Evaluation 7

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

 Looking back at my preliminary task, it is evident that there are certain conventions that are non existent.

To start off with I made a school magazine cover.  Obviously this isn't as good as my final front cover for many reasons. I had just been introduced to pixlr as it was very early at the start of the year I hadn't fully developed my skills of using the website. However I do believe this magazine has roughly the key conventions that you would find on a front cover. Likewise for my final front cover, I arranged to take a mid shot of a model. I felt that I was very careful when choosing my model as I wanted someone to represent the school, therefore I chose someone in uniform standing directly outside the schools main entrance. I made sure that the school logo was present, however in this case I would re think on the placing of it as the title contrasts with the image at the logo is placed in two different positions. This makes the mast head of the image look messy and unprofessional. Although the magazine is plain and lacks detail there is three images at the bottom that show creativeness. As a school magazine I wanted to gear away from lots of writing as your target audience is ages 13-18.

The house style was something I has just learnt therefore I really wanted to master it. I felt by picking the school colours reinforces recognition for that school. The strapline across the bottom I felt was effective as it explains what it in the photo's, therefore making it much clearer to the readers to follow and understand. The main think I would improve if I had to re-construct this magazine again would be the image. Following the rule of thirds I feel this image is too large and too complex. At that time I wanted my mid-shot to include the background of the school so it went with the whole theme of the 'school magazine' however I think this takes away the attention to the smiling student, and made it harder for myself to add any text around the image because there was so much going on in the background.

Personally I feel that during the construction and research about magazines, my skills have improved massively. From researching different genres of music magazines and carrying out textual analysis of different magazine styles it has opened me up to a whole new development of skills and understandings of magazines. I have learnt to work on pixlr and edit photo's to the exact way I wanted them too, which is something I had never done before. I am now aware of the styles of writing magazines use and why. The spacing of images and text has also become clear to me and I have been able to create mast heads and overlay images.

As you can see in this image I was able to use my pixlr skills to place the masthead behind the models head. When researching magazines almost all of the titles where behind the image. Comparing this to my preliminary task, I was unable to do that therefore I just placed it above the image. I managed to do this by creating two copies of the same image on pixlr. One of them I kept normal and then the other one I double clicked the padlock button and with the eraser tool erased all the background leaving just the mid-shot of my model. i then saved it as a 'transparent copy and by using pixlr express i was then able to overlay both of the images, the original (with the title on it) and the other image on top of that. I felt that this was creative as it was something i had to research to find out and then used my own knowledge further to overlay them. I felt that this definitely improved the look of my magazine. I then noticed that most images on music magazines have a clear background therefore on the background image i blurred the background so the text was easier to read. I also found this makes the image stand out a lot more. I felt that I kept a running house-style throughout my magazine which reflected both genders of my target market (male and female).

The quality of the magazines contrast enormously. The image quality is different as for my preliminary task I used my phone camera. This was a lot easier and more convenient at the time and in consideration of the deadline, However it doesn't give the same effect as apposed to using a professional camera.  Both images were taken outside, however the final cover has more light and stands out more due to the editing of the photo.

In conclusion, overall I fell like my skills of making and analysing magazines have developed over the course.

Evaluation part 6

what have you learnt about technologies in the process of creating this product?

 

 

Taking the photo's

 

I was very lucky when it came to taking my photo's as I has the privilege of using the school's professional camera. However what looked like a straightforward job became rather difficult. I had to make sure that I was taking a mid shot and that the camera was in focus by holding the camera up close so that my eye was looking through the lens. I was very lucky as the quality of the photo's came out really well and in my opinion look very professional.

 

 

 





Downloading the photos

The camera had an SD card that I could slot into the schools computer and save them to my memory stick. I then used my memory stick to import the photo's to my laptop back at home. I also felt that it would benefit me if I had a safe copy of all the original photo's on my email which I could do by using SkyDrive.

Editing my photo's

I realised that in order to achieve the professional music magazine look, it was vital to edit my photos. For this I used the editing website 'Pixlr'  I felt that this website was very clear to follow and I was satisfied with the way my front cover looks. The most tool I used on this website was the vintage filters. I felt that this filter made my image portray the 'indie-pop' look.

Main equipment

Although I had the opportunity to work with an apple computer, I felt that to save my time I would stick to using my Lenovo laptop at home. I did this because I was unfamiliar to how the apple computers work having that I have never owned one before. 

Construction of the magazine, DPS and contents

For the actual making of my magazine I also used the editing website 'Pixlr' this was because It was easy to follow and enabled me to carry a constant house style. I used this website to add the texts and overlay images. The only downside I found when using this website was that if you didn't like something you had done a while ago you would have to undo everything you had done after that. his often resulted in loosing out a lot of what I had done, therefore every now and then I would save the image to a word document just in case I wanted to change something.



Evalutation part 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

When constructing my magazine the main thought you need to always refer back to is 'how is this going to engage my target audience?' The most important thing about making a magazine is how it addresses your audience. For example If a magazine that is usually based on the rock n roll genre suddenly decides to bring out a pop cover, then it would not attract their audience. After deciding that my target market will be people who share a love for indie pop music, it was then important to plan elements that will attract them and engage them into buying my magazine.

One technique I used was the mode of address. This is where the magazine engages with the audience. There are four main types of mode of address that I learnt about in class, There is the 1st person, the 3rd person, informal and formal and colloquial and expletive language. In my magazine I thought it was vital to use topic specific words in order to engage to my indie pop audience. In order to do this I needed to use a variety of colloquial and expletive language. I didn't want to go to the extremes of references to sex or swearing on the front cover as I was aware of the younger ages of my target audience, however I felt because the ages are 15- mid 20's they are relatively young. This in mind, I wanted to make my magazine appeal to the younger generation my using more 'slang' words rather than the Queens English. This was also important to consider in my interview with 'Libby Lloyd'. As she was the artist on my front cover I wanted to write about her and her success in her music. I felt that because my magazine doesn't appeal to the rock n roll genre, I wanted to play it safe without using any bad language. I used the quote ' music gives soul to the universe and life to everything' because I thought this would reach out to my audience and engage them to want to read the article.

The images I used were another way to engage with my audience. On the front cover I had my model look straight at the camera as I thought this builds the relationship between the magazine and the target audience. On the contents page I added a image of a new boy band because I thought that my magazine front cover didn't portray that It was targeted to both genders. I feel that my model on the front appeals to the ages of my target audience as she is 17, therefore in between the age group. On my double page spread I have a lowered angle shot of my model and she is smiling. I think that is it effective that the quote is placed next to her as it reinforces her personality. The connotations of her smiling enhance the fact she may be a kind and gentle person. This is build a connection between my target audience, therefore make them want to buy the magazine.

When creating my magazine I had to think hard about a Mast head. I came up with RADAR as the word is used in terms of radio waves, therefore I linked the two together with the literal meaning on radio that plays music. I thought this idea was original therefore my target market will feel intrigued.

The fonts were also really important when addressing my audience. I learnt that there are two types of fronts. SERIF and SANS SERIF. For my magazine I used Sans Serif front as I thought this looked a lot neater and complied with my target audience. I felt that using Sans Serif it made my magazine look less formal giving it that indie sort of rugged vibe.
 

Another way I enaged my audience was throught the contenets page. I made sure that the contents page was eye catching to the reader as it is the first page inside the magazine that you see. I added 3 images as I wanted to give it as much depth as I could as I felt that images give away a lot more than text, therefore making the audience want to read about it. Although my main article was focused on Libby Lloyd, I also included other artists such as 'HAIM' alongside a photo of them. I also involved 'NEW ARTISTS' in bold to show that my magazine consist of not only one artist but all the new ones as well. I thought that putting New artists in capitals will portray significance and persuade the reader into thinking they will need to find out who the new artists are.

Evaluation part 4

Evaluation part 3

What media institution might distribute your magazine and why?

I decided that Bauer is the best company to publish my magazine. When taking extensive research on publishers I found that it is one of the most well known and successful publishers in Europe. Baur sell all different kinds of magazines from different genres, this could involve music, or even home baking. When constructing my magazine I felt that the magazine Q really inspired me to add certain conventions. I then found that Bauer publish Q magazine, therefore I thought it was only right to choose this publisher. 

 

 I wanted to have an overall knowledge on all magazine publishers because I think sticking to one restricted myself. I found  IPC media, Green chilly media and volcano publishing. IPC Media is very similar to Bauer in the sense that it publishes a wide range of magazines, however not as many and widespread as bauer. The other too publishing's contrasted from IPC and Bauer as they are independent company's meaning they are not as widespread. This results in being restricted to capital therefore less likely to be able to publish magazines such as 'Q' or 'Vibe'. I didn't chose Green chilly or IPC because I thought that in order for my magazine to be successful I would need a publishing company with a lot of experience and the expenses.

My magazine is based on the genre 'indie-pop' therefore when researching about publishers I needed to ensure that the magazines within that genre are sold well. This is another reason I chose Bauer as figures prove that compared to IPC or any other publishing company's they sell the many 'acoustic' music magazines, this is a niche market that needs to be fulfilled with a highly successful magazine publisher such as Bauer.  

Also, when researching I needed to include placed that would sell my magazine, this became a difficult choice because it was either supermarkets like Tesco or Morrison's or Book stores such as WHSmiths. I thought by selling it in a high end supermarket would give my magazine more recognition as they have more customers than somewhere like WHSmiths. Initially I thought that supermarkets would sell more magazines as they have a lot more customers that for example would go food shopping then end up passing by the magazine section. However I then thought selling my magazine in a specific place made for magazines and books are obviously appealing to that certain target market. I finally decided that I would go with selling my magazine at WHSmith because although supermarkets get thriving business all year round, people are more interested in buy their weekly food than buying a magazine. Where as WHSmith, or businesses like WHSmith, gets all year round customers and people go to these stores for more niche needs such as books, stationary or magazines. Also, WHSmith sell a large range of magazines so it would be the ideal place to sell my magazine

Evaluation part 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

evaluation part 1

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

As you can see here I based my main idea of my DPS on Q magazine. As noted before I really liked the Q magazines layout. They are easy to read yet still have the factors that draw to the readers eye. Q magazine has also helped me to design my contents page with the layout of writing and photo arrangement. I felt that it was very important to keep a running housestyle therefore I based both my DPS and the contents page on Q magazine. I have constructed my double page spread so that it simply follows similar conventions of a typical music magazine. Comparing it to Q magazine it has a main image of the artist/band, title of the my artist , quotations and columns of writing although I used 2 columns of writing in mine as I felt 3 looked messy as it couldn't all fit on the page. By following typical music magazines, this enabled me to pick up the typical conventions and then made it a lot easier to make and produce my DPS.

As you can see Q magazine inspired me to use the letter 'L' behind the writing. I felt that this would be very effective as the name of my artist is 'Libby Lloyd' therefore the big 'L' (also used to lady gaga) reinforces the importance of my artist. By doing this I felt that it gives plain , simple text and exciting look, therefore engaging the audience to want to read it. Although the double page spread of lady gaga doesn't have any quotes I thought that I should add one. I placed the quote on the opposite page next to the image of my 'artist' because 1) the image of my artists wasn't central, therefore I had a lot of space that somehow, needed to be filled and 2) by placing the quote that involves words such as 'soul' and 'life' reinforces my artists personality and the fact that she is smiling signifies that she is an inspirational person. When editing the photo, I felt it was key to keep the 'vintage' style as seen on the front cover and contents page. As the image was quite different to others that I had previously used I made sure that I used similar, if not the same effects on pixlr as I used on them so that I maintained the housestyle and the genre of music in the magazine. I kept the same font that I had used for my front cover and contents page, giving it a consistent house style through out the magazine

 Yet again, you can probably see that magazine 'Q' helped me construct my contents page. Likewise, i also highlighted with a box the page numbers and different titles in the deep blue colour that I have used on my front page and DPS. I felt that this maintains the colour scheme and housestyle and also makes the contents page easier to read. My contents page isn't however, exactly the same to 'Q'. I used the structure of how things were placed on the contents page as I felt going in order down the page was the simplest way of setting out the contents page and I also wanted to fit another 2 images on the page therefore I felt that by using their structure it enabled me to add more images. The other conventions I used were the highlighted page numbers, and the sub-title 'features' is similar. I also liked the way they had the main title of the topic then smaller text for added information, I used this because I thought it would be effective at catching the readers eye. It also makes it easier to read and makes it more aesthetically appealing for the buyer. Because I felt that so far my magazine has been targeted to girls I thought that it was important to add an image of males to enhance the fact that my magazine appeals to both, males and females. Instead of using simple black and blue I thought I would use grey and blue. I personally think grey is a great alternative colour to black as it is much softer on the eye and looks more 'indie-pop' that 'hip-hop'.

Second Cover

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final contents page

This is my contents page for my magazine. I based the style of it on the magazine Q because I felt that Q magazine is relatively similar to the genre of my magazine. I felt that it was important to have an image similar to the one on the front cover of my magazine to show a constant style throughout this issue of the magazine. I chose this image because I felt it enhanced the indie/rugged style. Libby is looking away from the camera to suggest that the picture is less important for example, this facial expression could not be used for the front cover of the magazine. I edited the photo with the 'vintage' effect on pixlr, this blurred out the background and enhanced the colour of her shirt. I feel like the colours of this photo serve importance as it goes with the main colours of the text. Navy blue and Grey are neutral colours meaning it doesn't appeal to one gender. I also think that blue and grey reinforce the 'indie-pop' style of my magazine genre. I used serif text as I felt it is clearer to read and contents page should be illegible to read easily. The text throughout the page is roughly similar because I felt it was key to maintain a similar style. I chose headings along with the page numbers that I felt were topic specific to a music magazine, therefore I didn't involve anything along the lines of 'beauty' or 'fashion'. I felt that because it was a particular genre of magazine it wouldn't be appropriate to but 'top 10 tracks in the chart' like most other magazines as indie music usually isn't found in the charts, Therefore I would be appealing to the wrong audience. Finally I felt that by adding a image of a boy band reinforced the idea that RADAR magazine appeals to both, males and females.

                  

double page spread

 Out of all the photos I took I wasn't sure what one I was going to use for the double page spread. After I hade done some research I found that the image for the double page spread can be less serious and a wider shot of the artist. I felt that instead of having a close up mid shot of my model, I wanted a more long shot of her as the double page spread was an interview therefore its giving more information about my artist. She is still facing the camera therefore she is still engaging the audience. The smile could connote that the interview is light hearted and interesting. It also shows that she doesn't take things to seriously and gives her a more glamorous-girly look. I asked for my talent to wear a checked shirt in which the front cover you can see. I asked her to keep it simplistic with jeans and a jacket as I feel 'indie artists' don't usually look like they have put massive amounts of effort into the way they look.

I felt like the back ground of this photo was really bright and stood out amongst my model therefore I felt in order for my model to stand out more I should blur the background. After I blurred to background a little, I played with the colours and contrasts so that if I was to add any text then it would stand out. originally I wanted the quote to be in white as I felt that the words within the quote were pure and inspirational, therefore instead of having the harshness of the bold black I thought I could alternatively use the heavenly white colour. However because of the colours of the picture the white text did not stand out as much and it was much harder to read. Luckily when I added some elements of lightness to it, the black bold writing became easy to read and stood out well. I placed the quote next to my model as I felt it was relevantly placed as its something she said. I also think the text fills the space of the photo as over half of it is taken up by the nature background.  



My finalised double page spread put together



I took this idea from when I was doing research for my prototype double page spread. The magazine 'Q' did a feature article of Lady GaGa where there was a oversized L behind the black text on her interview. I thought this was very effective and I also thought seeing as 'Libby Lloyd' is double L I would reinforce this by doing this. I used a dark grey for the L as is juxtaposes the brightness of the opposite image. I felt that If I added anymore colour to the main article it would be overpowering and unprofessional looking. The colour Grey is key here as it is the colour of my magazine name therefore I wanted to maintain this housestyle. All the bold writing is the Pixlr font 'BEBAS'. I wanted a simplistic yet bold text that would suit my magazine's housestyle. It was vital to keep the same text constant throughout because otherwise I felt like it could become very messy looking. I based the article on an interview. I put the questions in bold black writing so it is easy for the audience to read and follow.  Initially I made the questions and the answers up myself after watching various you-tube videos of artists that I would compare 'Libby-Lloyd' to in real life. I wanted to keep the article based around the music therefore I included things such as saying her album came out yesterday, so that the interview could be based on the main topic of her album and her music in general. The sub heading 'exclusive' and the page number at the bottom are both in blue to yet again reflect the housestyle of my front page.

FIRST DRAFT

This is my final construction of my magazine. This is the main idea of how I want my final magazine to look. As you can see the name at the top is RADAR- I chose this because radar is used in terms of the radio waves therefore I linked that to literally the idea of the radio and the sound waves music makes. I also thought RADAR sounds different and quite fresh, a lot like all the new young artists in the indie pop music industry. I chose the colour grey as it is simplistic and I felt that it went better with the colours and pigmentation on the image. Grey looked a lot more softer and less harsh on the front cover. I felt that the red highlighted parts of the text gave the front cover more colour and life. The names on the cover are both in blue, in the same text, and are also both underlined. This is so it portrays importance. The blue also stands out amongst the background. '5 vital ways to survive at a festival' headline is topic specific and invites the audience into what is inside the magazine. This helps to persuade them to buy it as it is different than an interview. The house-style of my magazine is consistent throughout the whole of the page. I chose similar block writing with some small italics to give the page dimension. I kept the colours all neutral and used capitals as I thought this gave the magazine a more professional feel.

construction of my first draft.





This is the image I chose for my draft. I looked through the photos that I had taken and realised that I wanted a picture with a white background. I thought this as when I was researching I realised that most of the front covers had a plain background especially the 'indie-pop' genre as the artist is there to stand out. Magazines such as country and western or ones with a specific style had a colourful background and this was the reason of choosing a image with a relatively plain background. As you can see below i saved to copy's of the photo and with the help of Pixlr I blurred one of the photos, then on another copy of the same photo I cut around my model and then placed it on the blurred image so that the background would appear less clear, and so my model would stand out more on the magazine. I thought this image was the perfect choice amongst all my photos as the mid shot is clear and the rule of thirds is accurate with space above her head, and below her shoulders. Although her hair appears 'wind-swept' it is out of her face and blowing away from the face. Her facial expression is fierce as she is looking straight at the camera, however she has a slight smile which is inviting to the audience of the indie-pop genre.

Construction of my magazine

 The most important thing I realised when creating my magazine was the actual material on the front cover. When I took my photos I planned out exactly who I wanted my talent to be, where the photos will be taken and when they will be taken. I thought I was being really organised by doing so, which I was because the photos turned out really well and I am happy with them, however when I was taking my photos I didn't have a final image in mind, therefore I just took photos of what I thought looked good. I learnt that you should always plan out on paper, or even in your head exactly how you want something to look before creating everything for that as when it came to choosing photo's I found that even though my photos were good, some of them didn't go with the genre of 'Indie-Pop'.

Initially I chose this image to use as the front cover..

 

And as you can see I still hadn't thought of another name for my magazine yet. I played around with the contrast and the brightness of the image on pixlr, however something just wasn't right about this image. After contemplating on weather or not this image is the right one to use, I realised that it was the background of the image that ruins the 'indie-pop' vibe, as the greenery of it makes it look more country and western. I tried blurring the background, however it still didn't look good. Initially I chose this image for the front cover because the mid shot captures the models body language which I thought was quite soft and inviting as she is sitting down on the floor, however her face and bone structure is quite fierce as she is staring straight at the camera. I think this invites the audience and makes them feel like they would want to buy the magazine. 

Choosing a VALID name

Choosing a valid name


Originally I was proud with my very first mock-up of my proto-type. I had produced it after I had collated some history and research of music magazines and had a finalised idea of what genre I wanted my magazine to be aimed at. I chose the current pop-star 'Lorde' as she was currently In the Charts at the time, and I felt she really appealed to the 'indie-pop' genre I was going for. When doing my research I found that the double page spreads are usually on the main arstist on the front cover, therefore I chose to do an interview with 'Lorde'. I watched numerous you tube videos to gather some background information about her and how she started her career and constructed a made up interview where I included topic specific language and interesting facts about her that I feel will appeal to my audience. HOWEVER..


I was still stuck with the name 'VIBE' the look and the style of this title went exceedingly well with the whole of my proto-type where I just kept putting it off to change it. It wasn't until my teacher was going through my blog with me and said ' you do realise 'VIBE' is a magazine already'. I thought long and hard about name for my magazine and nothing appealed to me. So I constructed everything down to a basic level. My magazine is Indie-Pop, therefore the name will have to portray this image. I originally thought of 'QUIRK' as indie is a shortened down word for individual, therefore this could result in being 'quirky' which means a different more fun style. I thought of this because it has a 'I' in the middle and initially I wanted that to be in italics to portray the 'indie-pop' genre. NEVERTHELESS...


After playing around with some different fonts I felt that the letter 'Q' was not going to fit into my style and it looked too much like the magazine 'Q' which is more R+B. I finally came down to a decision of calling my magazine RADAR. I know this hasn't got an 'I' in it, however I felt that this was a more appropriate word which sounded much more like an indie pop magazine. Radar is a detective system that uses radio waves, I linked this with the sound waves that are obviously produced when music plays, overall I am happy with my name.