Monday 29 March 2010

Evaluation

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

My masthead both follows and challenges conventions of traditional mastheads. It’s conventional in the sense that it’s in the top left hand side and is the largest and most prominent text on the page. I’ve challenged the conventions by using punctuation in the title. The ‘!’ instead of an ‘I’ adds emphasis to the title as well as more style. The font I’ve used is a sort of cut-out scribble font, Krikkel Krakkel. This adds to the chaotic, loud and energetic feel generated by the title and enhances the brand. As people automatically look to the top left of a page the masthead needs to be most prominent to attract people to the magazine; it’s the brand, so the style of it is also important. I believe that I have captured the style and genre of my magazine within the masthead.



In terms of design I have stuck to conventional methods for my magazine. I have kept to four main colours on each page (black, white, red and yellow) with recurring colours running through the whole magazine for consistency. The font colours are also linked to the images to create coherency and simplicity within the magazine. It looks like all my pages belong to the same magazine. This is important for readers so their attention is kept and not distracted by differences. I challenge these conventions slightly in my contents page as I use a variety of shapes (circle, triangle, trapezium etc.) interlocked as a background for my text. This disrupts the traditional straight edge feel to most magazines and creates a sense of discrepancy which fits with the brand I am trying to create.

For my images I have used a plain background which is conventional with most magazines so they can be manipulated easily as well as creating a clear visual for people to look at. The subject has the same outfit on throughout to create consistency. The style of the subject matches with the brand of the magazine to add attraction to the image. The images are large and prominent as I want them to draw attention they were all taken as medium close up so that the subject could be seen clearly. Images are the main focal point for people glancing at the magazine, so they need to represent the brand and entice the reader.



The language I used in the magazine is fast paced and friendly. E.g. “Watching the crowd rave with intense energy” I have used language that links with the target audience. This is conventional as a magazine wants to ensure it’s aiming at its target audience. I have laid heavy emphasis on the music side by using puns that play on band’s and album names. E.g. "Hot on Friendly Fires!" This reinforces the brand. I have also used recreational language so that the readers feel like they were actually at the event as well as to engage the reader and to keep them reading.

The layout of the front cover is quite traditional with the cover lines being situated in the traditional place. I have also used images on my contents page of other bands, this is quite conventional of music magazines. I challenge the conventions slightly in my feature by having the main image in the centre of the two pages. This creates a main focal point and reinforces the feature. Banners and puffs are also located in the traditional places on the front cover to add additional information as well as add to the attraction for readers. Also I used pull quotes in the feature to furthermore add attraction for the reader.



How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine is aimed at the indie/rock social group aged between 15-25. It’s aimed at social demographic B-D this is because my magazine is affordable and aimed at anyone that has a passion for the music my magazine represents. I feel that I have represented them well within my magazine. The body language of the model in my pictures reflects my target audience. On the front cover my model, Holly, has an anger expression, with hands in the shape of claws, much like she’s saying ‘Rawwrr’ like a lion. This has connotations of aggressiveness and rebellion but her smile reassures the positive friendly side of both my magazine and my target audience. It also suggests an element of craziness and loudness which reinforces the light hearted friendly side of my magazine. Her costume is also representative of my audience. Holly is wearing a black dress with a pink underskirt, this represents the rock-chick imagery. The silver necklaces and bracelets add to this image. She also represents the audience as she is a healthy size, reflecting the majority of my audience. This is opposed to maybe other music magazine’s that focus on pop and the skinny women within that industry. The framing I used is an up close ‘in you face’ style. This symbolizes the attitude of my target audience and so is effective in capturing this.
Some examples of potential readers of my magazine:


What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I believe that my magazine would be best suited to an independent distributor. This is because my magazine is of the indie genre and by name indie means independent. It would then be quite hypocritical for me to go to a major distributor and could possibly deter people from purchasing my magazine. It’s also different from other magazines within major labels (emap, gold key media) and possibly wouldn’t fit with their ‘house style’. This could lead to changes being made to my magazine that wouldn’t be representative of what I want or what I want the readers to receive. Also the content could be changed to reflect values of higher authority at the major distributor and influence my readers in a way that isn’t intentional of my magazine. However this won’t be easy as I won’t have the finance and expertise that comes with a major distributor. This could mean that it’s difficult to get my magazine off the ground as I won’t have any established distribution channels. However I could reinforce the message of my magazine by selling it at gigs and record shops until I can get it into more popular retailers. I could also use networks established by other indie magazines to help with the success of mine.

How did you attract/address the audience?

As I have stated before I attracted my audience by creating a visual representation of them in my main image. I used someone that was representative from that stereotype so the people can identify with them. The language I used was friendly and recreational to entice and sustain the readers. To get my magazine to my audience I would suggest many marketing strategies. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter would be a great place to put my advertise my magazine. This is because the majority of my target audience use social networking services. Billboards outside school’s would also be effective in capturing my target audience as well as music venues.

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

I have learnt that when taking photos I need to think about framing and everything within the frame; lighting, background etc. I also considered the type of shot to use. Using photo editing I realised that even if you plan your photos well, you may need to alter the images anyway. I had to sharpen the image and raise the contrast in most of my images to make the image more vibrant and not look ‘washed out’. This gave the pictures a more professional look and helps make my product realistic. One particular group of images used within my feature is only made possible by technology. There is no way that without the use of MS Publisher that I could have manipulated the images to create the effect of Holly holding herself.


Prior to creating this product I had relatively good MS Publisher skills and these were put to good use and built upon when creating my product. I have also learnt a great deal about blogging, how to set up and maintain a blog as well as web page layouts. By using the blog it’s allowed me to document the different stages that I’ve been through within my magazine. This has helped me work upon them at each stage.

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

When taking the photo for my preliminary task I didn’t take much consideration towards it. I just went for a medium shot; I didn’t consider the busy background, this made it hard to extract my main subject from the image. I also neglected to think of the lighting within the image. This caused issues as the image had a severe difference in light within it. This meant that the top half’s detail was lost as it was blinded by light. It looked unprofessional and ‘bleached’.
Based on this I made sure that when I took photos for the final product that I had everything covered. This then made the images of a higher quality and made them more usable and significant. It also made it easier, if needed, to edit the images as the original was of high quality. I have also learnt that the design of the text is as important as the images. For my final product didn’t just use standard font for the title instead I found one that represented my magazine as well. This then created a visual as well as a textual design that enhances my product. This then makes more of an appeal to attract my audience. It also makes the magazine look more professional as more effort and thought has gone into it.

Monday 25 January 2010

Drafting Text

When composing the main text of my feature I gave myself a basic structure as to what I wanted to include. I then wrote a first draft including information that I thought would be suitable for the article. After this I then pasted the text into the actual document and ammended it with regards to length, spelling etc.

Planning & Sketching Page Layouts


This was my preliminary sketching of my front cover. I sketched out my idea for my main image. This was the basis for when I started working on the computer. As you can see I progressed from this to my final draft. This was a good starting point as it helped me achieve the high level front cover that I made in the end.

Shooting & Choosing Images

On my photo shoot I took loads of photos. With each I told my model where she needed to be, but most of the poses were spontaneous. I took several and then viewed them soon after to make sure that there were adequate photos for my magazine before concluding the shoot. I debated on some pictures before rejecting them for the final product.

Setting up Images

I gained inspiration for one of my photos from a profile picture of Hayley Williams (lead singer of Paramore) on her Wikipedia page.



Other images came from inspiration on the day of the photo shoot.

Planning & Sketching Images


Here are some original ideas I had for images. I noticed that I wasn't very imaginiative when it cam to making a plan and was much more productive on the actual day of the shoot.

Analysing Front Cover Images

To make sure that I created the best possible front cover image I looked at similar magazines to see what sort of images they had. I was inspired by this NME one that had the person in the main image connect with the audience by reaching out.


For my front cover main image I used one that had a connection with the reader. In my picture my model is has an expression and behaviour that she's 'rawring' like a lion, to the audience.

Researching & Designing Mastheads

After I decided the genre of my magazine as being rock/punk/indie I then started thinking of a suitable title. I chose the name 'Riot' after the Paramore album. I chose 'Riot' as the title as I thought it was suitable for my magazine. I completed a preliminary evaluation sheet of both my magazine's name and tagline.



When stylising my logo I changed the 'i' to and '!' to add more empahsise to it. I used a font generating website called fontspace and found a suitable font that fitted the style i was after.



I did a preliminary sketch of my logo so I had somehthing to work from when working on the computer.

Exploring Values & Ideologies of Different Music Magazines

I looked at other music magazines that were of similar genres and styles as to my own to see what sort of language as well as to how they went about presenting articles and what they focused on. The main magazine I drew information from in this respect was Artrocker. The language they used was a bit more challenging and indepth as oppose to that of NME. They also focused on recreating atmosphere's and emotions. They also restrained from the traditional Q & A style for most features which I felt was suitable for the idealogoy of my magazine. I felt that I wanted my magazine to be like this and focus on the music.

Researching Target Audiences of Different Music Magizines

For my magazine my target audience was rock/indie teenagers. Within these social groups come certain values and syles. I chose this genre and aimed it at this audience as I already know alot about them. I don't personally fall into this catergory but I have personal knowledge of the area. I looked at other magazine's that follow this sort of style to gain understanding of what to do for my own magazine.

Investigating The Market

Before creating my magazine I looked at a variety of music magazines. I looked at different styles and genres to see how they differed and what sort of layout, design etc was expected from each.




I was inspired by different elements from different magazines.

Conventions of Music Magazines

Whilst producing my magazine's I looked at the conventions of other magazines. Starting with the front covers the key elements are the title, main image, tagline, cover lines, functional information (barcode, price etc) banners and puffs are another also additional conventions of a front cover. I decided to keep most of these conventions as they make a good front cover.
I annotated an issue of Kerrang to asses what conventions there were and what they meant and the connotations they have to the reader.

Friday 22 January 2010

Front Cover

This was my first attempt at my front cover.


I changed the coverlines as the boders didn't look as good as I anticipated. I also played around with the puff and the banners.


I changed by puff back to the origanl as it looked better with the consistent colours and played around with the banners again.


My final draft I changed the colour of the coverlines to match the style of the magazine. I also changed the colour of the main cover line as well as adding a web adress and funtional information.


Thursday 21 January 2010

Contents Page

This was my first attempt at my contents page.


I changed some of the images and the style of my contents page to fit with the colours of the front page and the overall style of my magazine.



I then added text to the left hand side so that the functional information was present.



I gave the text some stylish background so that it looked more original for my final draft.






Wednesday 20 January 2010

Feature

This is my first draft of my feature. I played around with the images and the basic style of the page.



I then added the text and formatted it so that it wrapped around the images.



I then added some ligtening bolts and a sign off so that it had more style.



I then decided that a pun would sound better for a title. This makes it stick in the readers as head as well as add some humour. I also added a set of links so that bring my feature into the present day. This is my final draft.