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.