The evaluation

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

On my front cover I have used many conventions, such as, I have used one main image on my front cover so that I attract my audience but don’t overcrowd and confuse the page with too many pictures. At the top of my front cover there is a pug which includes a tagline to say how good the magazine is and why people should buy it. Below this is the masthead, I feel that the masthead is the most important part of the front cover as it lets potential buyers know what magazine it is which is especially good if the are regular buyers looking specifically for my magazine. The masthead for my magazine is “AMPLIFIED” this is to show that the magazine is about rock music that should be played out loud it is also quick and catchy for people to remember easily.

I have followed the convention of the left hand third, I have done this by writing taglines for my main stories down the left side this is so that if my magazine was to be displayed in a horizontal stacking system the audience could quickly see my main stories and this would attract more people to pick it up. Another thing I have included on my front cover is a picture of a free poster you can get inside and a pug to show a competition you can enter if you buy the magazine these two conventions are very popular with music magazines because the audience feel it is worth buying the magazine if they have a chance of winning something more not just the magazine they paid for. The colour scheme I used also follows the convention of mainly using black and white for text but using red and yellow to make specific parts stand out. I have included a date, issue number and website at the bottom of my page to allow readers to make sure they read every issue and check out the website if they miss out an issue. Finally I included a barcode as this is a legal requirement and I couldn’t have sold my magazine without it.

My contents page follows the same colour scheme as the front cover to show that it is part of the same magazine also the same font is carried through to show the continuity. I used the convention of contrasting colours to attract the audience to competition on my magazine that they can enter, they can look at the other red text to see what main pages are included in my magazine. On this page I have challenged the convention of using a big image and writing below or beside it, I have done this by using a pretty simple picture of Nickelback in the background and writing over the top of it. My main story is shown again in the bottom left corner of the page with a quote and picture alongside the page number. The final convention I used was putting a print screen of my cover on to the page to again remind viewers what magazine they are reading.

My double page spread also follows many conventions but I have challenged a few aswell. I have started with a main image of my artist across the two pages with the face and most of the body being shown in full focus on the right. My second picture is in the bottom left and gives the reader something to look at to break up the text. Then the only other image I have is of the album that my artist is due to release, this image is slanted to follow convention and gives the reader something different to look at as all my other images are straight. As in most other magazines I have included page numbers in the bottom corners so that it is easy for reader to quickly find what they are looking for after looking at my contents page. For my title I have used the same red text as in my contents and front cover to keep my magazine looking well matched as you go through. My main interview text is reasonably simple and not too formal, the questions are in bold, and answers not, so that people can differentiate easily between them without them looking too different. I did not follow the convention of a kicker as I feel this would’ve made it look to formal and this would not suit my magazine of its target audience. However I did follow the convention of using captions from my text to make readers more intrigued to look at the interview but one of these goes across the page joint which is not following conventions but I feel it is necessary to bring the pages together and readers will still be able to see the caption as the text is big enough.Overall across my three pages I have used and challenged many magazine conventions where I felt necessary to gain the aimed effect on the target audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine uses a main colour scheme of black white and red this represents my target audience well because most of my target audience that would read my rock magazine would be ‘emo’, ‘gothic’ or ‘scene’ and they are normally more attracted to the darker colours such as black and red. Also my main pictures include an artist wearing skinny jeans and converse which is the kind of clothes my target audience would be wearing so this would attract them more because they will be able to relate to my music artist.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? After designs for my magazine are drawn up I would need a publisher to make it before I can distribute it. I would get a company such as Bauer or IPC to publish it however both of these already publish similar magazines such as; Q, Kerrang and NME. Therefore I might be more successful going to a different publisher such as Dennis Publishing. Once published my magazine can be distributed, I would chose to distribute it nationally in supermarkets and other shops like WHSmith, it wouldn’t be sold in little corner shops and small newsagents as they are too small and my magazine has quite a specific target audience.

Who would be the target audience for your media product?

My target audience would be people between the ages of 15 – 25 that are in to rock music, because after my target audience research they seemed most interested in music magazines. I also aimed it at people in social class status groups of B or C because they would need extra money to be able to afford luxuries such as my magazine, but people in class a may be more suited to read something more formal than my magazine.

How did you attract/ address your audience?

I attracted my audience at first glance with the bright contrasting colours of red and yellow with black and white and by using images of people that my target audience can relate to and perhaps aspire to be. Also I used informal language to address my audience as I wanted my magazine to appear friendly and easy for anyone to just pick up and read.

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

I used many technologies whilst creating my blog and media products. Firstly I learnt how to create a blog and after many attempts, how to upload things such as my powerpoint. Obviously I used the internet as well to access my blog and also to research magazine conventions and how they are used and to download specific fonts from dafonts.com so that I could use them for my media product. To create my media products, firstly I had to use my digital camera to take pictures that I considered using, I used different functions on the camera to adjust the focus and zoom until I got the exact shots I wanted. I then uploaded them onto my laptop and used photoshop and paintshop to edit out any blemishes in my photos. I found out that any smaller images that had not been taken with a digital camera or had been zoomed, lost their quality so I had to be careful that I didn’t used pixelated images in my final product.The main technology I learnt to use properly for the first time was photoshop/paintshop. I used many tools on there to create my desired products, such as using the selection tool to adjust the focus on specific parts of my picture or make edges of a picture darker, as seen in my album cover.The dropper tool was used when I wanted to ensure I matched colours so I used it to select previous colours that I had used so I could get the exact colour again. Before I put any of my images into my media product I first cropped them to the exact size I wanted them. I found out that I could use the straighten tool after I made a picture on my front page slanted but then realised it looked better straight. I used the makeover tool, clone brush and skin smoothing to get rid of any spots or blemishes on my model. I used the paintbrush at the end of creating my media product to create a blurred effect around some of the text on all of my pages. The picture of the bass guitar on my contents page was created by getting a picture of a bass guitar and hen using the background eraser tool to rub away the background leaving the bass there for me to copy onto my contents page. The two final tools I used were the text and rectangle tool, I used these for all my text and to help create the pug above my picture on the other page. Finally, I learnt how to use the separate layers effectively and to ensure the correct things were at the front of the page and to make sure I saved several copies in different places in the correct format so that I didn’t loose my work and could edit it later.

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

At the beginning of the year I created a preliminary task, as I had never used photoshop before creating this my task appeared very basic and not very professional. My front cover included one mid shot in the centre of my page on top of the blue background.I then put a slanted image in the left corner and a barcode in the bottom right, but if I was to create this now I would use skin smoothing to get rid of blemishes on my smaller picture and I would make the barcode smaller so that it didn’t stand out so much on my page. The text I used on my front page is too bright, although the masthead stands out clearly my tagline is not clear or easy for people to read, also it does not follow the left hand third convention which I realised after research, should’ve been followed. Another thing that should’ve been changed on my front cover is the type of font I used because it is fairly boring and doesn’t make the magazine stand out from others. For my real front cover I ensured I made all of the above changes and used many more of the tools in photoshop to make it look a lot more professional. I also ensured I included a price on my magazine, unlike my preliminary task; this would attract more buyer as it is reasonably priced for a magazine of its type. The contents page for my preliminary task is also very basic and lacks interesting page titles to get the reader interested. Once again the font isn’t very good and the titles for pages vary in size which makes it look unprofessional and cheap. There is no reference to the pictures at the bottom of the page and they look out of place because two of them have not got a plain background because at the time I did not know how to create this, and the third had no link at all to any of my stories above.For my real task of creating my music magazine I ensured I used specifically chosen fonts that matched my magazine type and that I used them throughout the pages to show continuity in my work. I used different images that matched my stories and edited them in specific ways to ensure they appeared exactly as I wanted them to this even included editing out backgrounds if I didn’t need them in photos. The other convention I used in my main product was using pictures as backgrounds this made my pages look much more interesting and more professional than the plain colours I used in my preliminary tasks.

My front cover, contents page and double page spread

My target audience

This is Dan Sharpe he is an example of someone who would be within my target audience.

dan is a 17 year old boy and is a big rock fan with his favourite band being papa roach he enjoys going out with his mates and hanging at the park by the skateboard ramps or going to local concerts. Dan is a budding drummer in his band "wrecked" and one day aspires to be as good as Daniel from Nickelback. He is at his local college studying his a-levels and has a saturday job working in his local mucic shop carrying out jobs such as tuning guitars. He likes to read rock music magazines to find out about all the latest up and coming bands and what is going on in the music world around him.

Questionnaire results and original layout ideas

I conducted a questionnaire to find out what kind of target audience i should aim my magazine towards and put the results in a slideshow.

My Questionnaire Results

My front cover ideas, i chose idea 5:

These are my contents page ideas, i chose idea 2:

these are my double page spread ideas, i chose idea 2 :

Maslow's hierachy of need

This is Maslows hierarchy of need showing what we need to survive at the bottom but as you go up you can see the things that are less important but are once we satisfy our basic needs we should satisfy the other needs further up the pyramid in order to feel happier and a fully person, magazines are not a necessity but they are a luxury and can often build peoples self esteem and confidence when they read them because they feel more like thier idols that they are reading about therefore magazines would be in the esteem category to build readers self esteem.

nme double page spread analysis

This double page spread is different to the previous two as it is a bout a new band that NME has discovered, unlike the other two that were interviews. The main and only picture is in the background of the whole spread, it is a n image of the three men playing with toy guns, this shows their playfulness and that they are only young so could go along way. They are wearing casual clothes that are not particularly up to date with fashion but they show the bands relaxed idea and give a good image to represent that they are just having a bit fun, although their expressions are slightly series which shows that they can have a serious side if needed, in the background we can see the coats and lights above, which shows the reader that they are not a successful band at the moment like Nickel back because their picture has not been taken in a studio or somewhere specific however so far they have been successful enough to get their picture in NME so they are obviously a band that we should look out for in the future. In the top left corner is the title radar, this is in while on a blue background and includes a brief description of what this page in the magazine is all about. Below this is the main block of text it is written in a white box using black text at the top of this box is a brief introduction and the name of the band in bold and then below this there is allow of the main text written out I two columns, this makes it clear and easy to read, it s written in a friendly way to appeal to its target audience and doesn’t use big technical words but more slang to really represent the band's personality. At the bottom of this text it has who it was written by in italics to make it stand out slightly but it is not any bigger than the rest of the text so that it doesn’t overpower the rest of the text. In the centre of the white box there is a caption written in blue this attracts the readers eye and they will tend to read this first it states " we want to make pop songs that are pure and unpretentious" this encourages the reader to read the whole article because they want to find out how the band are so pure. Above the white box there is another blue box saying "NME LOVES" this reminds the reader which magazine they are reading but also makes them want to listen to the new band because it has been recommended by a magazine tat they buy regularly and respect. In the bottom right corner there is a small white box with all the most important information from the double page spread, it acts a s a brief summary so that readers don't forget who the band are and where they can download the songs.

A double page spread analysis of Kerrang

This double page spread is also divided in to two with a picture on the right and all of the text on the left, however unlike in the Q magazine there is a pattern between the two pages which links them nicely, also there is a colour scheme between the two pages which keeps them linked nicely. On the right hand side of the page there is a large image of Jesse Lacey performing on stage, he is wearing a blue brown and red checked shirt and the colours of his shirt are followed through for the colour scheme of these pages. From the top left corner there is a checked detail similar as to that in the shirt Jesse is wearing, the checked pattern created a good visual affect and makes the page look very different to others in the magazine, it also created a good background for the title and other bits to be written on. In the very top corner it states that this is a brand new interview this makes readers want to read on as they know its exclusive and they will learn new things about Jesse that they never knew before, beside this there is details of who wrote and took the picture for this article, all of this is written in black. Just below this there is the main title this is written in a bold white font to make it clearly stand out from the rest of the text. Then below this there is a short description of what is included in the interview to make readers what to have a better look and see, it also states that the "recluse speaks out" this makes the interview sound even more exclusive as Jesse doest do any interviews. All of the above text is written diagonally across the top of the page, which clearly separates it from the rest of the text. Jesse's name is in bold in the short description so it is clear for anyone who doesn’t know who he is from the picture that this is who was interviewed and the boldness makes his name look more important. At the bottom of the page there is a quote taken from something that Jesse has said "it is important to choose what will make you happy" this is a shock tactic because it makes the reader think that Jesse may not be happy with what he is doing which makes them even more intrigued to read the interview. The main interview is set out in three easy to read columns and is written in a white text on a black background again making it clear, the text is short ad concise to prevent readers getting bored but allows them to get vital information about him. The questions are written inn red to make them appear differently from the rest of the text. The main picture is a picture of Jesse performing, it looks like he is enjoying his work, however the interview suggests he is considering giving up his musical career soon to pursue other interests. He is playing a guitar and from his casual clothing and taped up guitar we can tell he is not one of the most successful musicians but is good at what he does and puts all his effort in to it.

Q magazine double page spread

This double page spread is set out in a very traditional way with all the text on one side and a large picture on the other, although this is a very clear layout and makes it easy for the reader it is also very boring and it can be tedious for readers when looking at a magazine with all the pages set out in a similar way. The blue colour scheme is followed through to this page but the red is replaced with a brown to add a bit of variety to the pages. The main title is written in blue in a clear font, and the word “round” is in italics to put emphasis on it and therefore intrigue the reader to find out why Chris Evans has been associated with alcohol. Below the title there is a small white box with Chris’s name in and a quick description of the article, this again follows the colour scheme and in a small font there are details of the writer and photographer responsible for article. In the middle of the page there is a quote in bold that has been taken from the text" I had a party on my own with absinthe. it was a very strange night" this quote especially draws the readers attention to the text and makes them want to find out what would make Chris Evans say this and result to drinking alone. The rest of the text is written in a basic black text. As this is an interview the questions are bold with Chris’s answers below. the text is written in a friendly style and flows nicely this style of writing makes the reader feel like they were there and more in touch with Chris Evans and his thought band feelings at the time. At the bottom of this page there is a blue border and below this is the page number, issue date and the web address so that readers can across other information about the article and others similar. the image has a main colours scheme of black and green, it is a shot of Chris Evans holding a bottle of ginger beer, the beer is slightly out of focus and almost blurred as if you are looking at the picture after drinking a few of them, but as Chris is the main focus in the picture his face is clearly focussed and his expression suggested the reader should be surprised about what this article says but he is not pulling a serious face which lightens the mood.

Analysis of NME magazine contents page

This contents has a completely different layout to the previous two pages ive analysed, most of the page is taken up by one big pcture with only a small column on the left telling the reader what is inside. The column down the left hand side is in alphabetical order unlike others which are either randomly ordered or done by page numbers, it is on a white background with red text and black numbers to make it stand out form the rest of the page but still following a specific colour scheme to make the page look neater, at the top of the column the title is "what's inside" this is not following the convention of others who's title is normally "contents" . The main image is of Blur and had a pug saying that its a snapshot of them in london and the date on which it was taken and then towards the bottom of the image is a small description of why the image is there and explaining what Blur got up to that evening, this text is started with a red kicker to make it stand out from the rest of the page and draw the readers eye towards it. Also in the very top right corner of the page is a news tab to show that this blur article is part of the magazines special news section of all the latest bands. Finally at the bottom of the page is a pug advertising the sale of a subscription offer to the magazine which people can access online if they buy this magazine.

Kerrang magazine contents page analysis

Unlike q magazine the contents page of Kerrang only goes across one page this is a traditional style of most magazines because then there is more room in the rest of the magazine for the articles. The main layout of the contents page is split in to two with the contents below a main image. At the top of the page in the left hand corner there is a title, contents, this is written in yellow is follows the colour scheme of the front page, it is also written in a broken up font which again represents the rebellious side of Kerrang magazine, below it in the same black box is the issue number and cover date to remind regular readers which issue they are reading, also you notice that from its issue number Kerrang has released 100’s more copies than Q magazine this may mean that overall it has been a lot more successful so far. The main picture is of Herman Li, he is pulling a serious face and holding a guitar this is because the feature that he is included in is something that he feels passionate about and its main focus is on how to play a guitar, in the bottom right of this picture there is a page number and a tagline of the article he is featured in. in the bottom left corner there is a small column of text and a picture of the editor, with a small comment about this issue of the magazine it gives the reader a personal touch and makes them feel more involved and psychologically more attracted to the magazine because it is more personal unlike others without it. There is a border across the middle with the words “Kerrang this week” the text is in the usual broken up font and is following the yellow and white colour scheme of the page, below this border there are four columns of different things included in the magazine, the list is in page order and is separated by subtitles of what types articles they are. The cover stories are shown with a star beside them to emphasise the most important stories and attract more readers to look at them. All of the features are on the front page somewhere so that readers don’t even need to look inside to see the main things included. There is a picture of a guitar and bass below a preview of a competition to encourage readers to take part and try win this amazing prize. There is also a picture of one of the several free posters that are included free with this issue of Kerrang, including a small description below. The last item included in the issue is a quiz and below the tagline for this there is a picture of Howard and Adam pulling funny thinking faces to show that the quiz is hard but fun to do at the same time. Finally in the bottom right corner there is an advert to sign up to receive regular issues of Kerrang magazines at a discount price, this offer is meant to be excusive to readers which again makes them feel special as it is not available to just anyone.

Q magazine contents page analysis

The contents page is a few pages in to the magazine, this is not the traditional place for it, but is typical of Q magazine because it allows a few pages for adverts. Along the top of the page there is a long red box, with a black border around it, this follows the traditional colour scheme of red black and white as Q and the issue number are written in white and contents is written in black. The contents page is a double page spread unlike most other magazines, this is probably because Q magazine is a lot bigger , and they have spaced things out a lot more using a variety of pictures from within the magazine. Along the left hand side there is a column of the contents for feature articles that are exclusive to this issue of Q magazine, the top one is in red to make it stand out and encourage people to have a look, the rest are written in black and underlined in red with short descriptions of each, to show the readers all the different features that are included. Down the right hand side there is a list of all the regular pages in the magazine, again they follow the colour scheme all Q magazines and are written in black and underlined in red. In the top right hand corner of every one of Q’s contents pages there is a small image of the front cover and this is no different, this is there to remind viewers of the front page and has information about the most important features in the magazine. Across the middle third of the double page spread there are several pictures allowing the reader to get a sneak preview of some of the main stories inside, there is also a very large animated image of the Gorrillaz because this is the main feature for the magazine, all of the pictures include a page number at the bottom to allow reader to quickly flick to that page and read the relevant story. At the bottom of the page there is a small review on the magazine, as it is written by to magazine it is bias but it sums up what is included in the magazine well. Along the bottom of the contents page there is a white border, which includes information on how to subscribe to the magazine plus the date and page number, throughout the contents page the same signature font of Q magazine is used, this makes it look neater and better as a whole magazine.

Analysis of NME magazine front cover

 

The NME magazine is slightly bigger than the other two magazines I’ve analysed; this allows them to have more space on the front cover to include things. The main colour scheme of the front cover is black, white and red; even the picture follows this colour scheme. The masthead is in red with a white and black outline, this is the same colour used for every issue, which allows it to be easily recognised, by regular customer when they are looking for it in shops. The left hand third rule is used here and the tagline for the main story is on the left hand side which allows readers to have a sneak preview of what’s inside and if the magazine is stored in a horizontal shelving system rather than a vertical one then readers can still see what is going to be included. There are several other taglines around the edge of the magazine, each are written in white with a small red box around them with the main bit of information then a short description about what the stories will include below them, this makes the audience want to read on and buy the magazine to find out more. Along the top and bottom of the front cover are pugs showing more information about what is included in the magazine, both pugs are on a white background with red and black writing to attract the audiences eyes towards them as the are different and show the other different/ exclusive stories that they include. In the bottom right corner there is a small white box which includes a barcode for sales purposes, the issue number and website which allow regular readers to order and previous issues that they may have missed and the website allows the audience to see more about their favourite bands and buy merchandise. Even the writing in this box is following the main colour scheme of the entire magazine. There is also a quote to the right of the barcode box which states “all is lost there is no hope/all is lost you can go home” this is a song lyric and makes people think that even if they are alone they’ll still have this magazine to read .The main picture on the front page of the magazine is of the lead singer of my chemical romance, and the main tagline to the left of him states what the story is about, the picture is fairly serious and he is wearing smart casual clothes which means he is serious about “no more rock opera” and how the band are going for a different style of audience in their comeback album.

Analysis of Kerrang magazine front cover

The colours scheme of Kerrang changes with every issue but the main colours in this issue are yellow and blue these are two contrasting colours and attract the readers eyes to different parts of the magazine showing different taglines of what is included in it. At the top of the front cover there is a pug showing information about one of the stories inside, it is about playing the guitar, which will encourage music lovers to buy the magazine so they can be more like their hero’s.

The masthead is white and in a cracked and broken up font to represent the rebellious image of the magazine it also goes against tradition of other magazines because the masthead is underneath the main picture. Most of the main taglines are down the right hand side, which ignores the normal convention of the left side third rule, which again shows the rebellious image of the magazine and attracts customers to buy it because it is different. The main picture is of the band all time low, all the band members are in casual clothes which shows that it is not formal and they are relaxed people, the main singer in at the front is pulling a funny rock and roll face showing his real personality and that unlike the others who want to look good on the front of the magazine he doesn’t really care what he looks like, this also attracts the audiences eye more towards him because he is different. The other three ban members are in the background and look pretty serious compared to the main singer. down the left hand side there is one tagline for a story in side the magazine which makes readers want to find out more, there is also an add for the Kerrang tour 2010 and shows the sponsor relentless energy drink to encourage people to buy the drink if they want to be more like their rock heroes. The title for the main story is written a lot bigger across the middle of the magazine making the audience more intrigued to look inside. Along the bottom there are two smaller pictures giving the potential customers a preview of what’s inside, above them it says that they are posters inside which will encourage buyer so that they can get a poster of their favourite bands. In the bottom right corner there is a list of a few more stories in the magazine again to encourage consumers to buy it. Then there is an exclusive in yellow making it stand out and showing that this magazine is different from all the others. In the very bottom is a white box with the barcode, issue number, date, price and the Kerrang website. The issue number and website allow regular readers to order and previous insures that they may have missed and the website allows the audience to see more about their favourite bands and buy merchandise.

Analysis of Q magazine front cover

The main colour scheme of this magazine is red and blue, the red stands out and catches the readers eye when they see the masthead in white on a read background in the top left corner of the cover, this is usual for this particular magazine and the same colour masthead is always used. Then the main picture in an animated picture of the Gorrillaz riding a tidal wave, the way the image is shows makes it look like Gorrillaz are on top of everyone else, and covering over the normal, everyone else is being washed away, also the picture includes faces of famous people inside the wave which allows readers to see what kind of people the stories inside the magazine are about. The harpoon that one of them is shooting is going toward the pug, which draws attention to it and allows the audience to see a tagline of what the main story is about. Along the top of the magazine there is a puff saying “the world’s biggest music magazine” this draws attention to the target audience and makes then more intrigued as to find out why is the best so they are more likely to buy it and find out. Along the bottom of the pages there are three more taglines telling reader what is included in this issue. They also include to smaller taglines and one slightly bigger showing the other main story in bold, and then there is an arrow to encourages the audience to open the magazine and read more.

My preliminary task