Evaluation - Question 7

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

Prior to the creation of my music magazine, when working on my preliminary task I had never used Adobe Photoshop before therefore, I have very basic skill, in addition I had very limited photgraphy skills. In my prelimiary task I took under 10 photos for my magazine which evidently is not enough when creating a music magazine and therefore, this doesn't give me a lot of photos to work from. This is in contrast to my music magazine as I took a large amount to give myself more options when choosing phots for my magazine. Eventhough, I did cut my front cover photo from it's background in my preliminary task it was done very poorly as you can clearly see the edges are jagged, I also used no effect on my photo, this was again due to limited skills. It is evident in my music magazine that I have used a range of effects on photos which include; the exposure of an image, changing the photo to black and white by editing the levels etc.


When doing my preliminary task my planning consisted of a sketch for my front cover and contents page; it some sense this was very helpful as it did give me some guidance into how I wanted to design my magazine on photoshoot however, I had no direction on other aspects such as the colour scheme etc. I also did no research on my target audience e.g. what their interest were etc. Therefore, for my music magazine I spent weeks planning my magazine e.g. the genre of my magazine, my target audience, what are my target audiencese interests/what will attract them to my magazine, the colour scheme I will use throughout, sell lines, the content I will include - in addition to this I looked at other magazines that are successful in this industry e.g. 'Q' and 'NME' and how I could get my music magazines to similar standards. Overall, this gave me an extremly clear direction of what I wanted my overall outcome of my magazine to look like.


Overall, I think the biggest progress I have made is my skills within Photoshop. It is clear from my preliminary task that my pages are extremly basic; my contents page consists of a plain text for the heading and for the pages therefore, illustrating my lack of exploration within Photoshop. This is a massive contrast to the contents page in my music magazine, my contents is now split up into sections making it very easy for my readers to navigate to, I have used gradients at the top of each section which is much more effective than having a plain shape. In addition, I have used a variety of images which all have been edited e.g. exposure levels to make the photo more professional and sophisticated instead of just inserting the image how it is, as this just looks too basic and creates a very 'amateur' look. Although, a lot of my images that eventually used are on location, I did improve in cutting my model out of the background, I had to do this when creating smaller issues of my magazine which were placed on my contents page, as one of the issue covers had a photo that had been taken in the studio; although not obvious my skills did improve here as I learnt how to correctly remove a model from the background and have no jagged edges remaining. I have also improved in editing e.g. adding a drop shadow to text and shapes to create a 3D look, and adding a bevel to my button on the front page to make it overall stand out against everything else on the page.

Evaluation - Question 6

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

When making my magazine the main piece of technology that I used to actually create and design my magazine was Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is a piece of software that allows you to edit images e.g. retouch, reshape, distort images; as a result, this enabled me to create a realistic and professional magazine. Therefore, Photoshop enabled me to use a variety of effects on the images within my magazine e.g. one effect that I used a lot on my images was editing the exposure of the photo; by simply tweaking this I was able to chose the section of a photo where there could be more exposure than another section as a result creating an effective photo. Another effect that I used on my front cover image was changing the photo to black and white which was an effect also available on Photoshop. In addition another feature I used massively throughout my magazine was "drop shadow" this created a small shadow underneath or to the side (you are able to choose the direction in which you want the shadow to be placed) of an image or text; this simple effect could literally make an image or a piece of text more effective then it just being plain.


To take the photos for my magazine I used one of the most important pieces of technology within my magazine which is the camera; the camera that I used was the Canon 550D DSLR. As the camera is a digital camera it put me at an advantages as opposed to other cameras; this is because, this camera enabled me to view the photos instantly after they had been taken therefore, I could easily delete ones that weren't needed, or could re-take photos if the previous weren't right. This is in contrast to other cameras as some will not show the photo instantly instead the photographer would have to go and get the photo's developed and only then will they be able to view them. This can be very time consuming because when the photographer views the photos and they don't feel like any of them are to high standard or they are just not right, the photographer would have then have to redo the photoshoot. When using this camera, conducted two photoshoots one on location and one in the studio - therefore, this offered the magazine a variety of different background to make the magazine more diverse and interesting. In the studio I set up a white back drop, with trigger lighting on; by doing so enabled my images to be more professional as without this they could have come out dim and unprofessional. During the studio photoshoot another camera which was linked to an interval meter was set up at the back; this allowed me to create a time lapse of my photoshoot. My second photoshoot was on location for this I used (>).


Every week we had to create a diary explaining what we had been working on that week, this could be in a variety of forms e.g. text, video, cam studio etc. As opposed to just text, I have used video a lot to create my diaries; the majority of these have been created with my iPod's camera as I can easily plug this into my computer and upload it straight away. Cam studio is another piece of software that I have used; this is a program that allows you to record the screen of your computer/laptop, during this you able to use a microphone to record over the top in which you can discuss what is being shown on screen.


Throughout the creation of my magazine I have done a variety of tasks such as research (to research my main sources have been Google/Wikipedia) which have been presented on programs such as Microsoft Word and Microsft Powerpoint. I have then used the website 'Scribd' to upload these to my blog. Another website I used to create presentations was 'Prezi' instead of having different slides for a presentation it instead enables the user to create a path in which they want the order of their presentation to go in. I could then quickly get the embed code and paste this into the 'html' section when you create a new post of blogger. Blogger is the main platform I have used to document my work e.g. upload presentations, weekly diaries, upload finished work etc. The use of blogger has also enabled me to get feedback of my work much quicker as my work can easily be viewed as opposed to printing multiple piece of work and handing them in to get marked as this can take much longer.

Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 5 on Prezi

The first way I have attracted my audience which is both males and females in the age range of 16-24 is through the use of the multi gender colour scheme. The colour scheme I have used throughout my magazine is maroon, black, white and grey; therefore, these colours that I selected not only represents the genre my magazine is but it also represents the audience my lmagazine targets.

In addition to this, I have also considered the type of content that I will include in my magazine so I have considered what interests my readers? As a result I have included a variety of pages that include contents on gigs and festivals as this would be a massive interest point within my target audience. Additionally, I have included articles that are linked to male and female artists so this again applies to my male and female audience therefore, both will enjoy the articles included. To push this way of attracting my audience further, I have advertised a competition on my front page which is to win tickets to an indie/rock band - this would be a continuous competition throughout the issues where the artist will change every week. This is a good way of attracting my audience as again a large amount of their interest will be in gigs, festivals and concerts; as a result, by advertising a competition where the reader could win tickets to possible events will really intrigue and attract my reader.

Lastly, I involved social media into my magazine; amongst my audience technology is important as a large majority of my target market will be active on social networking sites. Due to this I have made it evident to my readers within my magazine that the magazine not only has a website but are also using other social networking sites such as Youtube and Twitter. This means that readers will always be up to date with the latest news on our magazine; additionally, through the website they will have access to our "magazine archive" where they can read previous issues, also through the website they can look at the subscriptions we provide etc. I also provided my readers with an app which they could download on smart phones so they can also read my magazine electronically as opposed to just with the paper copy. 

Combining all these methods of attracting my audience together, links to the Uses and Gratification theory as my audience will read my magazine for escapism. As a result, by providing them content they would be interested in and allowing them to access the magazine in a variety of ways means that the magazine will meet the readers needs and wants and enable them to use the magazine for escapism.

Evaluation - Question 4

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for my music magazine would be male and females aged between 16-24; I chose this age bracket as by these ages people have already developed the genre of music they prefer to listen to therefore, by targeting my magazine at these ages would mean my magazine reaches the full interest of my target market. In addition, at these ages the majority of them will have similar social habits, such as attending events like festivals and gigs – as a result, my magazine will be a great interest to them as a large part of my magazine does focus on such events e.g. backstage at gigs, and competitions to win tickets to festivals. 


I targeted the magazine at both males and females, therefore subverting the stereotypical view that only males buy music magazine, as a result my magazine targets a much wider audience as opposed to a smaller market of just males. I marketed it at both males and females as both genders enjoy the genre of indie/rock and I believe they would find the contents within my magazine interesting as all of which surround this genre. To highlight this I used a colour scheme of black, maroon, and white as these colours would appeal to both genders, in addition I included images, articles, bands etc that would engage both a male and female market. 


The social class that would suit my music magazine would be B-D as I believe this particular social class would be able to afford my magazine which is priced at £1.99 (released every week), this also means my magazine is good value for money as it includes suitable and a good standard of content within the magazine which will be released every week - however other social classes will also be able to buy my magazine if they wanted as the content included could still appeal to them. 


My magazine would appeal to people to who attend School or University as my magazine would be regularly used for escapism from everyday life – this links into the ‘Uses and Gratifications Theory’. To illustrate this through my music magazine the model I have used is of a similar age to my readers and embraces the indie/rock style.


The psychographic audience of my magazine would be ‘achievers’ and ‘succeeders’ as the articles included are about new and upcoming artists that are breaking into the indie/rock genre; as a result, a lot of my audience will use the magazine as a source of inspiration to succeed and achieve their goals. The target audience would also be very individual as the indie genre itself is a very individual music genre e.g. the artists aren’t to mainstream.

Evaluation - Question 3

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

When choosing an institution to distribute my magazine I have to consider the competitors I will face within the institution as they may already distribute magazines of similar genres.


IPC and Bauer Media are known for distributing magazines such as ‘NME’, ‘Q’ and ‘Kerrang’ all of which revolve around the rock genre. Therefore, this would not be a suitable institution for me to distribute my magazine as my music magazine is of a similar genre of indie rock therefore, my magazine will have too much competition. In addition magazines such as ‘NME’ already have a large amount of consumers who buy their magazine; as a result, this will make it increasingly difficult for my magazine to sell amongst such strong and popular magazines. 


As a result I need to choose an institution who does not currently sell music magazines as this will increase the chances of my music magazine being more successful as it is not being overlooked by the other “bigger” names. If not, an institution that does not currently distribute music magazines of my genre of indie/rock as that will make it easier for customers to notice my magazine. 


Overall, I think the most suitable institution to distribute my magazine would be the ‘National Magazine Company’ which is now known as ‘Hearst Corporation’. Hearst Corporation would be ideal as they are already a successful distribution company that distribute 300 magazines worldwide which include ‘Cosmopolitian’ and ‘Esquire’, as a result there is potential that my music magazine can be successful if distributed by them. In addition, Hearst Corporation do not currently distribute music magazines; as a result, my magazine will be the first music magazine that they will distribute which heightens the success of my magazine. As Hearts Corporation have the skills to attract audiences worldwide this could potentially mean that my magazine could be distributed internationally which means that my music magazine will not just be limited to a UK based audience instead it would be targeted at a much wider market. 

Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I aimed for my magazine to represent the indie social group which I think I have achieved in a variety of ways. Firstly, I think the colour scheme I have used of red, grey, black, and white particularly fits well with my target group as similar colours are found in magazines such as Q and NME. Instead of using a brightly coloured red I opted for a much darker red as I thought this colour is often used in indie style clothing – the colour is also used in my models outfit which furthers my reasoning. In addition, the black, grey, and white that I used in my magazine overall, gives my magazine a more professional look.

On my front cover I also considered the sell lines used and how they will link and relate well to my audience. Therefore, I included sell lines to do with bands in the indie/rock genre and stories that related to these bands to build interest for my reader and to make them want to buy my magazine e.g. ‘Behind the scenes with Coldplay’. This also links into the competition that I used on the front page, my ideal reader is someone who enjoys attending gigs and festivals, as a result I knew that a competition relating to the reader winning tickets to a concert would interest them greatly.

For my contents page I included a variety of articles that again would interest into my reader, I sectioned each page under a heading e.g. ‘Features’ so it was easier for my reader to navigate to their desired page; this also linked into the typical conventions of a music magazine. At the bottom of the page I included social networking logos such as ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ as my target market would typically be teenagers/ young adults therefore these services would be used often by my readers. 

How my model was dressed and how her hair and makeup was styled was also key as the style of someone can greatly signify what social group a person is from. On my front cover, contents page and double page spread I used a variety of shots ranging from a close up to a long shot to illustrate my models clothing etc. The clothing I used for my model linked into the indie style as she wore a maroon coloured dress with a checkered shirt underneath and some unusual patterned tights, her hair was in the style of messy waves and her makeup was very natural. Overall, this was a very independent style therefore highlighting the indie social group as they continually desire to be independent in their style and to not fit into the fashion that everyone else is following. The style of my model also is something a potential reader would wear to a festival or an outdoors event. 

Finally the image I used on my article page showed my model wearing different clothing than the other pages, on this page my model is pictured wearing a dark green jacket looking away from the camera, additionally, my model can evidently be seen wearing unique jewellery e.g. a ring in the shape of key and the model also has unusually painted nails as each nail is painted in a different colour which highlights the indie style.

Evaluation - Question 1

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

Before creating my magazine, I did a variety of research on other magazines in the indie/rock genre to get a better understanding of the typical conventions of media products in that category. Some of the magazines I researched were ‘Q’ and ‘NME’, therefore I tried to reflect my findings into my magazine; however, making sure I incorporated my own creativity into the magazine to differentiate my magazine from others in the market.

On my front cover I included a full bleed image of my artist to enable my audience to get a clear look of who the artist was in the magazine; this was commonly used in the magazines I looked at therefore I knew it would appeal to my target audience. However I made my artist look away from the camera so my audience felt more intrigued to find out what the story behind the artists it. The rest of my front cover covered the conventions of a typical magazine front cover; for example, I surrounded my artist with sell lines as this is where they were typically positioned on a magazine, I included feature artists e.g. ‘Kasabian’ and ‘Paramore’ to enable my audience to get insight of the types of artists included in my magazine. The main sell line that linked into the artist was positioned on top of the artist to highlight to the audience that the sell line is about her, in addition it was the biggest sell line to make it catch the readers eye. The masthead was a white heading surrounded by a maroon box which linked into my colour scheme, by having it in a coloured box made it stand out to the audience. Additionally I put a black and white effect on the main image which made the masthead stand out and the other sell lines around the front cover. Finally I included the issue number, price, and barcode at the bottom of my front cover to make my magazine look professional for my audience.

Additionally, the contents  page in my magazine links into the typical conventions of a magazine for example the layout of contents, as it is split up into sections e.g. ‘Features’, ‘Exclusives’ etc, this allowed the reader to navigate to their desired page much easier. I also inserted more than one image into my contents page similar to what ‘Q’ does to make my contents more visual for audience instead of using continuous text, this also would enabled my reader to get some visual idea of what content is included in my magazine. I made sure that in my contents page that I used the same colour scheme I used in my front cover so my pages where continuous throughout. Finally I remembered to include social networking information and subscription information at the bottom of the page for my reader.

My first double page spread consisted of a second full bleed image that was in landscape – on the image I changed some of the lighting effects to make the image more effective and eye catching for the reader. On top of this image I included a quote in a large font and white text, again to create a house colour scheme. Having the large quote on the image gave my audience an idea of what the main article was about.

My second double page spread included the main article. I positioned the text of the article on the left hand side as typically this is the first side the reader will look at; in addition I sorted my article into to block columns as this is typically used in magazines as it makes the article look overall more professional and appealing for the reader to read. I made the ‘interviewer’ and ‘interviewee’s’ text two different colours again to make it easier for the reader. Finally, I included a mid shot of my artist on the right hand side again tweaking the lighting of the image. On top of the image I included the artists name to again highlight who the article was about.