Before creating my magazine, I analysed a selection of music magazine front covers, contents pages and double page spreads to gather a variety of conventions that I thought would enable me to create successful magazine pages that would appeal to my target audience. In my magazine I have included most typical conventions of magazines, for example the interesting masthead that would create a new band or artist’s identity for my magazine. This is placed at the top and centered, as I discovered that this is a common feature of a music magazine. I found all of the mastheads on the front cover were at the top of the front cover or placed top left of the front cover. I also positioned the main feature story at the bottom of my front cover in a much larger font than the other cover lines, and where placing the main feature story at the bottom of the cover is not a common feature of a lot of magazines I did find that some magazines do use this feature and for my own magazine I found that it was what worked most effective for my music magazine. I have tried to make my magazine look as much like magazine you would see on the shelf today. As well as looking at the layout if the magazine and the use of text, I also looked at the use of image and colours. In each of the front covers, the colour scheme was taken from the image and in some way, for example the spin front cover colour scheme was taken from the facial features that the artists had, such as the eye colour. To create this effect for my own images I have taken black from the clothing and hair of the artists, as well as the blue from the artists eyes. I also used the colour white even thought this colour does not feature on the image that I have used for my front cover. However I found that this was a colour that worked well with the black and blue. As grey was used in the background of the image for my front cover, I decide that I would add this colour to my colour scheme and continue you it throughout my contents page and double page spread images as it worked well with the rest of my colour scheme. By using colours from my only my images I was able to continue the colour scheme throughout my magazine, linking each section together and making it professional and artistically rewarding. I tried to make my images look as professional as possible editing the contrast and brightness on publisher as well as cropping and editing anything else when I needed too. I have not included any competition advertisement on the front cover as I feel that the interviews alone and image would interest my intended audience, I think that advertising ‘free’ things and competitions is to cliché for my sort of magazine and would actually put the audience off buying it if they saw it on the front cover. I have also included certain conventions that all magazine have, making them look realistic ad professional, such as a bar code, a price, a date and an issue number. Although these conventions of the magazine are not as bold and noticeable, as they are always featured on a music magazine, they do put the finishing touch on the magazine making it appear realistic. Therefore this was an essential convention to be added to my magazine.
After anaylising three contents pages it was clear to see a number of typical conventions that the magazines used. For example all three contents pages that I annotated divided the page up into thirds. This was a convention that I used for my own contents page and found that it was particularly helpful for creating a layout that was aesthetically pleasing and professional. Another feature that I noticed was that there are different fonts and sizes used on the contents page. This helps to make the different sections or more important text stand out on the page. I used these conventions to create a contents page that was well laid out – organised and easy for my target audience to follow. However trying to fit everything on one single page for my contents page proofed difficult and did not as look as professional as I thought I could make it. Therefore I used a double page for my contents page. Using the first page for the majority of my information and including four images – one of which was a picture of my article, which I found was a convention of ‘Q Magazine’. I then used the second page for a larger image that took up the whole page. The image was of my artist featured in my article. This image then included more information going down the left hand side of the image. Although the content pages that I analyised used only a single page, I found that this is still a feature used in many magazines, although quite unconventional, however, it was the way that was the most rewarding for my magazine, giving it a professional look. When comparing my own contents page to other existing content pages I think that it easy to see which conventions I have applied to my own magazine, even though I have used quite an unconventional layout with a double page contents page.
Similarly to my front cover and contents page, I analyised two double page spreads and gathered conventions to apply to my own double page spread. I decided to create quite a conventional layout for my article. I made the only image included in my double page spread take up the whole of the left hand page which allowed my target audience to see the featured artist whilst also setting the mood of my article. I wanted to create quite a fun, laid back feminine tone. One particular convention that I noticed ran through both double page spreads that I annotated was that the article its self was split up into quarters. I discovered by taking a further look into layouts that the more conventional layout of articles was in thirds. So, although the articles that I anaylised used quarters, for my own article I took a more conventional look and split my article into thirds. I found that this gave my article more of a professional look and using quarters could have been a risky root to take my article down as it is more difficult to follow. An important convention that I picked up on was the use of quotes. I found that this feature added the finishing touch to an article and therefore used this feature on my own article – giving it the finishing touch and making it more professional.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
When producing my magazine pages I designed and created it around a particular target audience which was people interested in rock and pop genre of music, aimed at the social group of people aged from 16 - 21 year olds, both male and females. My magazine divides social groups through gender and age. For example the images that I have used throughout the product are of the same age as my target audience. If I used an older person on my front cover I may not have attracted the audience I was aiming for or represented their social group. I have aimed my product at both makes and females as I wanted to attract a wider target audience. Throughout the making of my production I tried to keep my target audience in mind, however looking back over my magazine now I think I may have made it appeal to the more feminine audience more than the masculine side of my audience. However, where I have used images of females throughout my magazine and very few males, the images of the females I have used are of strong females. Therefore using these images of strong female i feel that I was still able to attract both a masculine and feminine audience. When analyzing my magazine pages, I think that the main social group that I have represented is females. The representation I chose to send to my readers of females was strong and positive. I think this representation was presented particularly well with my front cover my double page spread. Stereotypes for teenagers are usually loud, ignorant, arrogant, bad mannered, scruffy ect. However the artists used in my magazine challenge these views. The artist I have used on my front cover I believe presents a strong, ambitious and respectful female. From the position and body language of the artist you can see that she is a strong headed and fun individual, and stereotypically for an individual of this age this could be taken as the artist being loud and bad mannered. However, in the image you can see that the artist is wearing a bead necklace which suggests more of a polite and well-mannered individual, as well as being of a high class. I that the costume of the artist on my front cover is well put together. The black vest top gives a casual look, aimed more towards lower class; however the bead necklace adds a touch of elegance of higher class. I feel that this therefore helps to attract my target age group from all social classes. I don’t think that I have included any other social groups; however at the same time I don’t think that I have excluded any social groups with the way that it has been laid out or by the way any of the text has been wrote. In my article I asked questions that would not sway the artist answers to discriminate or exclude any social groups.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Every music magazine is distributed by a specific media institution. When I finished analysing my finished magazine and decided on the genre and target audience of my magazine, I then decided on a media institute that I thought would help me fulfill these points and my magazine to be as successful as possible. I decided to go with Bauer Media as it sounds the most promising media institution to distribute my magazine. It currently publishes other big music magazines such as Kerrang! and Q Magazine, as well as offering over 300 magazines to 15 countries around the world. It also distributes radio stations and online magazines which mean they get my magazine to a great level and even as good as Kerrang! and Q Magazine. Bauer employs around 6,4000 people and has a 2008 turnover of 2.08 billion Euros. Bauer Media reaches over nineteen million UK adults across multiple media channels. They have more than eighty influential media brands spanning a side range of interests, including; heat, GRAZIA, Closer, MCN, FHM, Parkers, MATCH, Magic 105.4, Kiss 100, Kerrang and 4Music. This media institution is built on millions of personal relationships with engaged readers and listeners. They connect audiences with compelling contents, whenever, wherever, and however they want. Their unique insight allows them to work closely with their customers to develop innovative solutions that create a difference to their business. Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies collected around two main divisions - Magazines and Radio - widely recognised and rewarded as being industry innovators. This institution is a sister company of H Bauer Publishing, publisher of the UK's biggest TV listings, Take a Break and Bella. As Bauer Media is responsible for a number of successful magazines with a similar target audience to my own magazine, I thought that this institute would benefit my magazine especially with their promise to ‘Connect audiences with compelling content’ I think that this particular point is crucial to create successful media products.
Before starting the design and production of my magazine pages I had decided on a target audience that I then kept in mind throughout the development of my magazine and made decisions based on this target audience. The target audience for my magazine is people aged 16-21, both male and female. I have chosen this age group to focus on because I think that people this age are more likely to listen to the music and bands that I am writing about. This is because I fit into this category myself. My music magazine is more aimed at females, as the way I write and present is in a more feminine way, as a posed to a magazine like ’Kerrang!’ where the writing is aimed at males more than females. Most bands in this genre are all males, so I think that writing in a different style will give a better aspect of females listening to music. To make my magazine appeal to my target audience I have used a selection of techniques. On my front cover I have included a small selection of cover lines that would appeal to my target audience, such as including artists from my chosen genres. I also included a cover line about the 2012 awards as this is something that my chosen age group would watch and find interesting. In my double page spread, I used a conventional layout as it makes it easy for the reader to follow as they will be familiar with this particular layout. Although I think that my magazine appeals to my target audience, with a conventional layout of the pages and features artists that they will find appealing, I think that my overall finish appearance is more appealing to females than it is to males. This is because of my use of features images, as there is only one image featured in my magazine that is of a male, and therefore is the only real feature that could possibly attract a more masculine audience, as the rest of my images are of females and has quite a feminine touch which attracts a more feminine audience. However when creating a house style, I carried my colour scheme through the rest of my magazine, and where I mainly used a female model for the majority of my images they did not where stereotypical feminine clothing throughout all the photographs. Therefore as this is only one issue of the magazine, a male audience may still be inclined to buy the magazine. Therefore hopefully people who would be familiar with my magazine would not be put off.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my target audience by having an interesting front cover with a brightly coloured masthead; this gives the magazine a brand identity. To create front cover/contents page/double page spread that my audience would find interesting, I firstly had to conduct initial research into who I could aim my magazine at so I handed out questionnaires to people from my target audience to find out the key information about them and whether the magazine would appeal to them. I then put this information into graphs so that I could see my data clearly. The cover lines on my front cover are features that would be interesting to the target audience. For example bands featured and exclusive interviews. The colour pallet I have used is mainly black, grey, blue and white; this would attract more people to my magazine. The blue and white cover lines connect with the masthead. The way the magazine talks to the audience is in a not too chatty way as I wanted to keep it informational, grown up, fresh and classy.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Previous to this project I have had a year of experience taking and editing photographs so some of the programmes I used in the production of my magazine pages were familiar to me however I did have the opportunity to get to know certain programmes and investigate their tools. During my photo shoot I used basic equipment such as a camera and lights to create a better quality of photos. After my photo shoot I was able to use different programmes to create different effects. I improved my digital camera skills when taking my photos and setting up my photo shoot. I used light walls that would keep with my house style and lighting to create a shadow. I also changed the brightness of the flash on different photos. I edited my photographs using Photoshop and Fireworks and manipulated them to work well with my magazine layouts. Although I could edit my photographs easily with Photoshop, as it was a programme that I was familiar with, I wasn’t as familiar with Fireworks so I encountered a few problems whilst trying to change the brightness and contrast of the background of the photographs, however with a bit of practice this was easily overcame and ended with a good quality image. For the production of my magazine itself I used Microsoft Publisher and with previous knowledge of using this programme before I was able to put my knowledge of the programme into practice. Although I had not created any media products using this programme before the knowledge that I was effective for creating a successful and professional looking magazine and as I went along I learnt more about various tools to use during my production process particularly with the font and creating a shadow effect. Throughout the process of making this magazine I have learnt more about how to use programs such as Fireworks and how to create a blog.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Looking back at my student magazine for my preliminary task and comparing it with my finished product of my music magazine it’s easy to see the dramatic difference between the two. Compared to my finished music magazine, my preliminary task looks poor, however it has helped we learn how to make my magazine look more professional by taking better photos and planning my photo shoot. Since creating the student magazine I think that I have gained more knowledge of what makes a good and successful magazine. As well as extending my knowledge of programmes such as Fireworks and extending my ability to create media products, I have learnt the knowledge I need to make my magazine successful, such as a specific target group. I have also learnt that time keeping and planning is important to keep up to date and on top of creating my media products. The preliminary task helped me to figure out how to get the best out of programmers like Photoshop and let me figure out more about my blog. I have learnt that editing my photos gives my magazine a professional touch to it. Making sure that I took in my audience feedback when creating my magazine I think I have managed to create a magazine that would appeal to my target audience. I feel since I didn’t carry out much research during my preliminary task I wasn’t able to get the best understand possible of my target audience and what they wanted. In comparison when creating the production of my music magazine I was able to carry out both primary and secondary research in order to gain a better understanding of what my audience wanted. By carrying out this research with questionnaires and existing products, I was able to produce my magazine so that it was specifically aimed at my target audience; because of this I was able to use my knowledge of target audience to create my magazine including my fonts, images, colour scheme, layout and colour scheme. I learnt that the front cover needs to have a carefully structured layout in order to not make it too busy nor have a lot more or less content then necessary. I have also learnt how to set up a better contents page. When it came to making my music magazine content page I realised that I needed more columns, using thirds as it looks much better and more professional, as well as sections like a feature and regular section. The way I set up my contents page for my preliminary task makes it seem like there isn’t much content in the magazine which will put the audience off. I learnt front this by adding more detail to my contents page for my music magazine and laying it out in a way that will attract my audience. The front cover is more aesthetic compared to the front cover for my preliminary task. I found that this was important how I set up my front cover when it came to creating my music magazine in order to make it successful. I managed to create a house style and continue that from the cover onto the contents and then finally to my double page spread. I chose the colours blue, white, black and grey as the house style. I chose two simple colours for the title of my front cover and article, blue and white but different fonts to have as the main fonts for the magazine and used the same effects on the text but I changed the colours around depending on what background they were placed on so they stood out the most. Learning all of this I took this and made use of it in my music magazine.
