Question 5: How does your media product attract/appeal to your chosen audience? (Double Page Spread)

How does my music magazine appeal to my audience?

The first thing that my audience see and are attracted to is the large picture of the artist on the left hand side of the page. Catherine is wearing a leather jacket and that represents the edgy look that my target audience like. She is also holding a banana like a gun towards the camera. This is an example of humour and appeals to the reader.

Question 5: How does your media product attract/appeal to your chosen audience? (Cover Page)

How does my music magazine appeal to my audience?

The Name of my magazine appeals to my target audience. The font, Viper Nora, is edgy with the almost scratched paint finish, therefore it appeals to my audience as they like to be edgy and different.
The word used for my name, "Noise" also appeals to audience. It is simple and easy to remember. The simple word is made into something much more important.

My model for the cover photo, Beth is looking directly towards the camera creating a relationship with the reader thus appealing to the audience. It attracts male readers as they find her attractive and it attracts female readers as they would see her style as an ideal.

The Competition on the bottom of my cover page also appeals to my audience. My target audience is indie/alternative teenagers and they frequent festivals like Reading & Leeds.

Question 7: Final Evaluation

 FINAL EVALUATION

I believe I approached the production of my final product (music magazine) in a much more professional manner than I did when I produced my preliminary piece. 

I planned and researched my music magazine thoroughly which contrasted with the minimum amount of planning I did for my prelim. This has given me a solid base to work from and use as reference as opposed to the amount of time i wasted producing my prelim just searching for inspiration. 

Question 7: Evaluation #2

Progression of my preliminary to my final piece: Contents Page

Looking back on my preliminary contents page, I realise that the two pieces are incredibly different. 
My preliminary task contents page is much sparser compared to the busy environment of my final contents page. The difference is due to the different contexts, my prelim is a college magazine therefore the content needs to be easy to read as well as looking welcoming, my final piece, on the other hand my final piece is aimed towards the teenage audience and therefore a busier much brighter style can be used. 

Question 7: Evaluation #1

Progression from Preliminary to Final Piece: Cover Page 

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My production of a magazine cover page has progressed dramatically from my preliminary, this is mostly due to the fact that I have grasped how to use Photoshop much more. 

My preliminary piece is much simpler and more arbitrary than my final coursework piece. The photo I used of the drummer seems to be too dark for the cover page and the dark border around it looks out of place. 

My final piece photo, on the other hand, is much brighter and looks more suitable for a cover page of a magazine. The focus of the photo is on the model as the photo of Beth has a blank background whereas the photo on my preliminary is much busier making it less suitable for a cover page. 

The style of the cover page for my preliminary also comes across as too simple thus not attracting the prospective readers. the colours seem muted, due to the fact I reduced the opacity of the text  boxes. 

All in all, I believe that my final cover page was much more thought out and developed than my preliminary piece. I feel that my final piece appeals to my audience more than my college magazine, this increased understanding of my target audience improved the look of the cover page dramatically. 
My final cover page looks much more professional and i think this is mainly due to the fact that I have produced my final piece focusing on how to make it look as much like a magazine that could really be sold in the local corner shop as possible.

Audience Feedback #1

Audience Feedback
DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD 

I decided to collect my audience feedback by uploading my Double Page Spread on to the Social Networking Site, "Facebook." This would enable me to directly garner feedback from my target audience as the people who see my Facebook page are teenagers.

The first page I have got feedback from is the Double Page Spread.  Sarah Higham said that she likes the general look of my spread but she also pointed out a grammar error in my written content. I have looked back on my Double Page Spread and fixed the error according to her specifications. 

Connor Greenhalgh  also gave me feedback on my Double Page Spread, he told me that he thinks the smaller image of my model, Catherine isn't suitable in its current state. With the feedback I have gathered, I took the photo and I modified the photo in Photoshop. I changed the brightness of the photo, but I then realised that the size of the photo did not look good, therefore I put a large photo on the other page instead.

Audience Feedback #2

Audience Feedback 

COVER PAGE

I also put my Cover Page on Facebook so my peers could evaluate it. 
Most of the comments were very positive about my work. Jordan commented on it ad remarked that he found my layout effective and reminiscent of a music magazine of my genre, Indie-Alternative. 
Nicole found the use of colour on the cover page made my piece unique and professional.
Jade agreed with both these remarks but also added some constructive criticism about the size of the price. However, I decided to keep my price the same size because I feel that the price is something that is important for the consumer to see.

Audience Feedback #3

Audience Feedback 

CONTENTS PAGE

The Contents Page was the next page I got feedback for. 
Nicole commented that she likes my colours, I think this is due to the fact I kept the colours to a strict 3/4 colour palette, the colours are bright but are not overwhelming for the eyes.  

Question 6: What have you learnt about Technologies from the process of constructing this product?

What Technology did I use and why?



BLOGGER


For the whole production of my media blog to go alongside my product I used the site Blogger. I found this site easy to use and effective in producing blog posts, it was easy to import photos and content into the posts. The only thing I found that I couldn't grasp is that when i added the photos, I couldn't move them wherever I liked so I feel the layout of my posts suffered.



I used the website blogger in conjunction with my final coursework pieces to produce a sophisticated, professional record of my progress.











PHOTOSHOP

For the production of my final products I used Adobe Photoshop. I found that using this program made the editing and manipulation of photos much easier than what it would have been if I used something llike Microsoft Photo Editer.

I used photoshop for the production of my cover page and my contents page,  I also used it to edit the photos I chose for my double page spread.

 
 I mainly used the Layer Styler option on the right hand side for my written content and headings.
These made it easier for me to add effects to my headings and produce bold headers, for example, in the title of my magazine I used the option "Stroke" to create a border around the letters and "Inner Shadow".

I also took advantage of the drop down menu for editing photos. I used the "Auto Colour", "Auto Contrast" options to correct the colours on my photo. I also used the "Spot Remover" tool to correct any blemishes on Beth's skin and the "Burn" tool to make her blue eyes much more vivid.



SLIDESHARE

 I used Slideshare to create an interactive presentation to present my production steps for my double page spread, this made my blog more interesting.
The only limitation I found with the software is that when I embedded the slideshow into my blog, I couldn't then change how big it appeared.



FACEBOOK

I used the social networking site, Facebook to gather feedback. I thought that this would be wise seen as though the "friends" I have on facebook fulfill the criteria of my target audience. Most of them are female, 16-19 year olds and large fraction of them consider themselves as Indie.
Using Facebook worked in my favour as it enabled me to show a large group of people my work almost instantaneously. It would've taken a lot longer to get feedback manually using questionnaires or interviews.

All I needed to do was to post the photos of my cover and contents page on facebook and my target audience commented on it.

Question 2 + 4: How does your media product represent particular social groups? Who would be the audience for your media product?

AUDIENCE IDENTITIES

The target audience of my magazine are predominantly female, who are obviously fans of my chosen genre: Alternative-Rock/Indie. My magazine is targeted at a younger audience of around 14-20. An Indie fan tends to have a more unique dress sense: a mixture of both the vintage/retro style with an urban/modern edge. The indie style can also be relatively grungy, as well as, smart, therefore my media product needs to reflect this.

ARTIST                                                                                 p;     










         












For my primary photo on my cover page I have successfully represented the indie/alternative social group with the use of costume/makeup.

COSTUME
Beth is wearing a dress with a parka on top and a bowler hat. This is very similar to the  photo of the typical indie female on the right. The colours of the dress and scarf suggest that she wants to be seen as interesting and the use of the bowler hat portrays her sense of individuality.  My model is also wearing bracelets which correspond with the photo on the left.  Indie people collect eclectic groups of bracelets which also show their originality and desire for decoration. 
Instead of just wearing her dress, which is formfitting and potentially revealing, Indie females often layer them with grungey, baggy coats/jackets. This is the case with my model as she wears a khaki coloured parka on top of her skater dress. 

MAKEUP
My model is wearing a minimal amount of makeup, the only stand-out part being her winged eyeliner. Winged eyeliner is a feature of this social group's style as it mirrors the makeup of the 1940s, making their look look more retro and therefore more original.

MAGAZINE COVERS WITH EVIDENCE OF MY SOCIAL GROUP

This NME cover page from October 2011 features the artist, Florence Welch. She is the artist predominantly associated with the artist, "Florence and the Machine."
Her music is considered to fall into the genre of "Alternative" therefore her style can be interpreted as a representation of the social group's style. 

There are many similarities between this picture and my cover page. Both models, for example, have a hat, minimal makeup and tousled/wavy hair. 
They both actively use their arms and hands in the photo. Florence is using her arms as a portrayal of nonchalance and Beth is using her hand to seem almost surprised. 

Both shots are also Mid shots, from the torso upwards and this gives the reader a view of their facial expressions without appearing too intense. 

MY PRIMARY AUDIENCE

My primary audience teenage girls of age 16-19 from the indie/alternative social group. 
From my audience questionnaire I have seen that more than half of my respondents were female and were within the age group of 16-19 year olds. 

These girls are unafraid to take risks with their clothing and their lifestyle. They take pride in discovering new bands to listen to and going to intimate gigs. Their clothing consists of skirts, dresses and baggy shirts while they love to wear ankle boots and socks. 
My target audience would love music from the nineties like The Stone Roses, and new voices who are not the usual sugar pop like Lana Del Rey.









                                                                          

Question 3: IPC Media Conglomerate

MEDIA INSTITUTIONS THAT COULD DISTRIBUTE MY MAGAZINE

The IPC Media Conglomerate could also distribute my magazine.
IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands, with print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – while their websites collectively reach over 20 million users every month.
At the moment IPC Media distributes the magazine NME, which is also the magazine that I took the most inspiration from, as the style of my music magazine is similar to that of NME, IPC could be an option for distribution.
Even though IPC distributes NME, the most successful music magazine, I feel that they would be unsuitable to distribute my magazine as they don't seem to distribute a large amount of other magazines.

Question 3: Media Institutions

MEDIA INSTITUTIONS

BAUER

Bauer Media Group is a multinational media company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany which operates in 15 countries worldwide. Since the company was founded in 1875, it has been privately owned and under management by the Bauer family. It was formerly called Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG, abbreviated to HBV and usually shortened to H. Bauer.
Worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group's magazine titles amounts to 38 million magazines a week.


Bauer owns the music magazines, Kerrang, Q Magazine and Mojo magazine. 

Therefore they are one of the giants of media and a serious option to distribute my magazine.

  

Question 1: Final Cover Page

Question 1: Final Contents Page

Question 1: Final Double Page Spread

Question 1: Double Page Spread Production

Double Page Spread Production

Question 1: Contents Page Production Final step: Written Content

CONTENTS PAGE PRODUCTION 

 For the final step, I added the written content onto the page. 
I started with the contents panel on the right hand side. 
This includes a heading and a subsequent couple of lines describing what the story is about. 
The next thing I added was the main story in the  middle about the stone roses, I deliberately kept the story brief so the reader would feel interested and consequently open the rest of the magazine. 




I added an advert for the famous Reading & Leeds festival on the left hand panel as I am aware that indie people favour that event.

Question 1: Production of Contents Page Step 2

CONTENTS PAGE PRODUCTION

 

2ND STEP

Initially, I decided to create a layout that is very similar to the layout of NME, with the band index running down one side and the features and news contents running down the other.

 I have decided to keep the headings and layout of the contents ruynning down the right hand side. I have used blue, white and black for the headings and brief explanations of the content, but for the page numbers I have used the red seen on the cover page in the Viper Nora font.

 

 

Instead of the album index running down the opposite side to the contents, I have chosen to include a big banner for the Reading & Leeds Festival.
This will serve as a stand in for any adverts that are present on actual music magazines
The banner will have a list of the bands and acts playing at the festival at both locations.

Question 1: Production of Contents Page Step 1

CONTENTS PAGE PRODUCTION

 

 

 

1ST STEP

 The first thing I added to my contents page was the title of my magazine on the top with "this week" next to it in a smaller font. This is reminiscent of the contents page of NME, the main magazine I have used for inspiration.
                                          

Instead of having my content title on a black background I decided to have it on white so the whole effect isnt so striking. I have also added the date underneath the "THE WEEK" which also resembles the layout in NME. 

Although instead of having the words "this week" the same size as the title of my magazine I have decided to make the font slightly smaller.

These similarities with NME appeal to my target aduience because  they tend to read that particular magazine according to the data supplied by NME.

Question 1: Cover Production Final Steps

COVER PAGE PRODUCTION

The next thing I did was add Polaroid-type pictures on the bottom line of my product to give in an indie feel
Underneath the pictures I added a black strip in which I added details of a competition that is happening within the magazine.


I also added a circle on the left hand side in which I wrote names of bands that were also featured in the magazine alongside the main stories.










I produced this circle in the style of this one, with the bands in one colour and the tagline underneath highlighted in another.





Lastly I added the written content onto the cover. This included several small stories on the right hand side of the page like, "The Stone Roses are finally back in the limelight."

Question 1: Cover Production Step 2

COVER PAGE PRODUCTION

2ND STEP

I added the title of my magazine in the top left corner of my page directly above the focus of my cover, Beth's face.







This means the readers eyes will automatically get drawn to her face and consequently the title of the magazine.

I also added Polaroid picture graphics to the bottom left corner of my cover page. This adds a quirky edge to my coiver page and makes it look more Indie as my audience is stereotypically interested in vintage cameras and photography.


The Polaroids will show some pictures of the other features in my magazine, I rely on the artists' fame to attract the reader/audience into opening the magazine and possibly buying it.

Question 1: Cover Production Step 1

COVER PAGE PRODUCTION

1ST STEP

                                                                         
 The picture I am going to use for my front cover is of Beth. She is wearing a hat with a khaki parka and red dress. Her clothes are typical of the "indie" or "alternative" scene.  

 The way she dresses should appeal to my chosen audience of music conscious teenagers.
her facial expression is of defiance and confidence, this id because i wanted her to reflect teenagers' ideology. 


She also looking straight at the camera to create a relationship with the reader and to catch the attention of prospective readers and buyers.

I touched up this picture using photoshop. I used the spot healing brush to cover any blemishes Beth might have had. I also used the burn tool to make her eyes more defined as well as her eyebrows. n

 

Question 1: Chosen Name for My Magazine

NAME FOR MY MAGAZINE

The results from my questionnaire revealed that the most popular name for my magazine was the name, NOISE, therefore I chose it.
Next I decided the colour scheme for my music magazine. I decided to use a deep blue, white. black and red, i tried to keep the number of colours low so my cover and consequently my contents looked consistent, like they belonged in the same magazine.
I chose the font Viper Nora to use for my main magazine title  as it looks edgy as well as being striking and bold.

The style of my magazine title is reminiscent of the style of NME magazine. This is because I have chosen to type the title in capitals. Also, I have added a bold border around the letters of my title similar to the black and white border around the capital, NME. The paint-like splatters on the letters could connote creative personalities which alternative teens tend to be.

Planning of Cover Page Layout

COVER PAGE LAYOUT PLANNING

     
I have created a  frame for the layout of my Cover Page. It is fairly typical of any magazine. 
On reflection, I think I would add small pictures in polaroid frames as the tasters of the stories within the magazine. I want the name of the magazine to be located in the left hand side of the mag because that is the direction in which western countries read, and my magazine is going to be distributed within England.