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

School Magazine 

Final front cover

the preliminary task was to make a front cover of a school magazine and this was to help you basically get to grips with photoshop and everything that it can do. So straight away i knew who my target audience was however it wasn't so easy when it came to my actual final pieces however it did help me to understand how to base the look for the right target audience. 

I did a lot of research when i came to my main product because i needed ideas to help me develop mine and to also help base my target audience around a certain image. By doing this, it helped me to make my layout look a lot more professional.

Because the preliminary task was only a mess around to help me understand the concept of photoshop, i started to experiment on different fonts to see what looked better and what was easier to read for the audience. Without doing the preliminary task then i wouldn't  be bale to use photoshop as successfully as i can now.

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

Flickr

I used flickr when i collected all of my college magazine survey results. i found it difficult at first but after i got to know it a bit more and i found it a lot easier.

Blogger

I never heard of blogger until media. At first i found it hard but as i used it a lot more it got easier. I used it to display everything in my whole project including my final pieces and things that helped me work my way up to the final pieces and it also includesa all my evaluations, images, etc. 

Photoshop

I also used a lot of photoshop throughout this project as i did all my final pieces as well as mood boards and other things. The first thing we did was the preliminary projects which helped me understand the basic of photoshop even though i had used it before with my other subjects including photography. I used a lot of different methods in order to make my photos look right for my magazine including 'Image>>Black and white' which made my front cover black and white. I also used the same way with the contrast which made the image look a lot better. I also used the 'ruler' tool which helped me line everything up neatly and it also helped me know where the middle of the page was etc.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience is mainly for the ages of 18 and over and for people who like to focus not just on the music side of a band/artist but who are also genuinely intrigued about the persons life and who they are as a person so in a way the magazine has both demographic and psycho-graphic side. The cover lines on my magazine involves bands and artist that my target audience would enjoy and may also include some new bands that they would like. 

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

I decided that my magazine would be an independent magazine because when you have to rely on other companies to print etc they could easily become bankrupt just before doing the things for the magazine and there is basically nothing you can really do apart from trying to find another place which would be almost impossible with such short time. The one thing that would help this work out for my magazine is by having online distribution meaning spending less money on shelf space and having it a monthly magazine also helps out with the money situation because less copies would be needed unlike some magazines that are weekly based.

Distribution will be key for my magazines success because it will help attract and bring in the right audience that the magazine is based around. By having the write advertising in the magazine will not only link in with my target audience but will also help with the money side. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social group that my magazine is mainly involved around are people who are around 18 and over who have a more mature look towards music. One of the ways i have done this is with the pictures i have chosen. The pictures are simple and each show different sides of the person. This helps show the reader a different side of the person in my photos because not only have i picked two quite serious looking photos but i have also chosen images of him smiling which shows the complete opposite side of the first two images.

Another this that helps is the language content that i have included. mainly in my double page spread feature Q&A i made sure that the language i used was a lot like how us as people would talk. This helps the magazine seem more relateable for the reader.

The Music Magazine Industry

Bauer, IPC and a few others are the main magazines publishes based in the UK.  BBC Magazines, National Magzines, Bauer and IPC have a massive power over the industry which is around 60%
However, due to the over grown development of technology more and more people are buying magazines online which is causing solid magazines to decrease in sale. This then causes different magazines to be fore to close if they are not to expand into the world of technology. 

Unedited photos

Contents Page Practice Layout

This is a school magazine from Arnold House School. Right from the start your eyes are drawn into the two big letters “A” and “H” and also the “1” and “3”. There are four different pictures that are morphed into the lettering/numbers. These pictures are clearly of students that go to the school. They have also chosen pictures that are of achievements to show the audience such as parents  that the school gives all students the best chance of achieving something great. Also, majority of the photos chosen are of the students direct mode of address. This is used draw the 

target audience in such as parents, visitors etc.

The background of this magazine is a slight shadow of their logo. This is used to just reassure that this magazine is purely about the school and nothing else. Also, the colours that they have used such as the red also is featured in the actual school logo which also helps re-assure the target audience that this magazine is purely based on that school.

Another thing that they have used successfully is the use of space. One thing that they have done which a lot of magazines fail on is not overloading the front cover and making it too busy looking. if you put loads of random stuff on the front cover can cause it took look messy and could also confuse your audience as well. Also, by not having so much on the front cover it could also intrigue the audience because you are not giving them everything at once so they are more than likely look in the magazine because they want to know what it may actually involve.  

Adressing my audience: double page spread

In order to address my audience more i decided to do a more serious article because my target audience are young adults but have a more mature taste in music and are more interested in the actual artist, band and what they are like as a person. So for my main Q&A style article i made sure my questions where something that i think people would actually genuinely want to know about the band/artist but i made sure the answers where both serious and sometimes funny just so it wasnt too serious that people might find difficult to read. i also made the answers sound like something a person would say such as using a few swear words but not enough to make the whole thing sound too overwhelming.

Once again the dark red colour is appearing a lot more in the double page spread and the reason for this is because it has been used a few times now so the audience is used to the colour now and i think it would ease the audience a lot more because the colour is something familiar now. I also made sure i didn't use too many colours again because the article is quite serious and i think if i used a load of bright random colours it would take the seriousness out of the article which would stop the audience really connecting with the article.

The pictures that i have used are of the model smiling because i wanted to show the audience this different side of the person because on both the front cover and the contents page he isnt smiling. I also wanted the pictures to have to same effect as the red colour because seeing him smiling and actually enjoying himself it makes what he says in the article shows that he is a genuine guy which my type of audience are looking for because they are not just into the music but are also interested in the people behind the music they love.

Adressing my audience: contents page

From the start the audience will be even more drawn in because the magazine has gone from just black and white with the slightest dark red to a lot more colour because now the model that was at the front is now in full colour and so is the other two photos that are included.

And again with the font style i have still gone with the same easy to read style font but is still nice looking and almost professional looking and the same with the colouring that i have chosen. The black behind the white writing helps the writing stand out more helping the audience. By using the same fonts for both the brief of whats involved in the features and also for the features name it makes it less confusing and distracting for the audience but i have made the featured name slight bigger and bolder just to help show the difference between the two so it doesnt get confusing what is the name and what is the brief information.

Adressing My Audience: Front Cover

One of the things that addresses my audience when it comes to my front cover is the colour. My audience is of the people who are just becoming adults and are more of the mature type when it comes to music so instead of using bright colours which could distract my audience i decided to go for the black and white style with a slight hint of colour such as the & colour which is also the same colour on his top in the double page spread. I also used this colour in areas that are quite important that audience will need to know such as the competition and the name of the article that involves the model.

Another thing that is based around my target audience is the type of fonts that i have used. The fonts that i have chosen are the fonts that are easy to read so the audience doesnt have to strain to read and same again with the colour which is also easier to read and understand.

My model is also making directly looking towards the camera which makes him look like he is looking at the audience which is helping to lure the audience in because it looks like he is looking at you.

the competition is put in the front cover to again attract the audience because in my questionnaire that i made all of the people who did it actually decided that they would enjoy if the magazine included some competition because it means by buying this magazine they have an opportunity to win something back and by using the colour again it helps draw the audience in because it stands out a lot more especially with the black and white throughout the whole of the front cover.

Model, Location and Props

Model

for my model i wanted someone who looked around the age of my target audience. I wanted this because i feel that it would help the audience feel more involved because someone their age is doing something that every person that age would love and i think it would be quite inspirational and help people know what it isn't impossible to achieve your dreams and in fact you are never too young or old. Another thing that i wanted my model to have is a big of a mature yet unique look which also encourages different people with different styles will love this magazine.

Location

At first i wanted to have the photo shoot somewhere music involved like a studio or on stage but then i realised that that might distract the audience from the model and their purpose. So i decided to used the green screen so i could cut the background out in later editing. This would help the model stand out more.

Props

I didnt use a lot of props during this photo shoot because i think that they would make some of the images look too busy and my plan for the interview was to have a very minimalist shoot. However, the one prop that was used quite a lot was the models guitar because i wanted to show the audience that he isnt just a pretty face but has in fact got a talent and is very good at it. 

Original Ideas statement

When we got told that we had to make our own front cover, contents page, and a double page spread the first thing i thought about was my audience and who i want my audience to be. I then decided that i wanted to go for a more adult like audience starting from the age of 18. I also then decided that i want my audience to be the more mature type because i think there is plenty of magazines out there that include random stuff and random interviews. So i want my magazine to have more serious interviews that people will find more useful and have more information about the bands they love and hoping the interviews will answer the questions they want to know. 

In order to make this successful i then looked into colours and fonts that i think will help give my impression across such as picking colours that are nice but not as bright because bright colours could distract the audience eyes to different things on the page when you are really wanting them to be reading the important stuff like the main articles etc. And for my fonts i wanted them to be quite professional looking but still quite easy to read so the audience wouldn't struggle when while trying to read.

School Magazine

Magazine Questionnaire

Front Cover MoodBoard

Cover Lines:  Front Cover
i found this process quite challenging because i did not know what to write which sounded professional as well as something that would be appropriate for my target audience. So after some extensive research i decided to focus more on writing something that makes the draw the audience into wanting to read the article but not enough that it would ruin the story and almost reveal the answers without having to actually read the article.
Also, i made the writing stand out as much for the rest of the front cover because the writing and cover lines are just as important because that is whats actually in the magazine.

Cover Image: Front Cover
while deciding which image i though would be suitable for the front cover i decided that i wanted one image that was quite big because i wanted the cover to stand out enough to draw the audience into buying the product. i also didn't want to overload the audience with a lot of writing at the front because that could make the front cover look messy. I also decided to choose an image that he model was looking straight into the camera because then it looks like the image is staring straight at you and could bring the audience in. By choosing to make the image black and white i feel it makes the image look more professional and mature which is exactly like my target audience which are adult music lovers 18+ and i also feel by adding random colours i feel that it would attract the wrong sort of audience.  

Masthead: Front Cover

After looking at different mast heads from different magazines i have decided to go for one a bit like GQ magazine because it is short but also gets to the point. I have also decided to put it in the same position as what Q magazine does because it gives me more room to work with but also looks effective and noticeable. The reason why i have decided to make my image overlap the Masthead was because i saw that Kerrang does it frequently but people still know it is a Kerrang magazine because they are very successful and have managed to make a brand out out their name and now are not just known as a well loved magazine but they have also diversify into different areas such as the internet and the radio etc and this is what i want my magazine to portray.
I have chosen to keep my masthead in black and white because it stands out a lot more especially with the white background. I also did a shadowing of the masthead because i think it helps the image stand out more and also helps draw the audience in because it makes everything stand out more.

Fonts and Colours Moodboard

Finished Product - Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread Analysis

Q Magazine Front Cover Analysis

Kerrang Front Cover Anaylsis

Contents Page Analysis

Finished Cover - Front Cover

Finished Product - Contents Page