Magazine Evaluation

Magazine EvaluationPATRYCJA laska

Question 1In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Music Magazine Cover

Comparison of Music MagazinesThe magazine I have taken my inspiration for my own music magazine is the Billboard magazine.The lay out of the billboard magazine is quite simple however it has a important use of conventions in it. The magazine cover uses minimal text therefore the text doesnt fill out the page too much . It also made the cover page look organized and not too crowded. One of the conventions that is used is the Headline which represents the name of the artist which is on the cover image . In my own magazine I also included the name of my artist in the Headline to represent who is on my cover image. The headline is in a big font , compared to other text on the cover page. I chose to use a big font so the name of the artists stands out to the audience . Another convention that I used in my own magazine was the pull quote . I have included the pull quote to give a hint and a overview to what the article is going to be about. I also added the pull quote to make the magazine article more interesting , to make the audience want to read it. In my own music magazine, compared to Billboard magazine I have also used a similar cover image . The model has the exact same face expression as well the image is taken fairly close therefore the face is very visible down to the waist . There is also a direct address to the reader as the artist is looking directly at the reader. The image is taken close up therefore it was a head and shoulders shot. Lastly the hair of my music artist has the same style as the Billboard cover artist.

Cover ImageOn my front cover photograph there is a 18 year old female model called Una. She represents a female Indie Rock singer , represeting beauty, talent and Indie Rock fashion . She will represent Florance Welsh from the Florance and the Machiene band. My female model has ginger hair color just like the Florance Weslh therefore she will look identically like her . Her figure is very slim and hair facial features are similar to the main singer Florance Welsh therefore was easy for me to portray my model as this artist . The photograph was taken by a professional canon camera. I managed to make the image very clear and for it to show specifically the facial expression of the model. I desired for the cover pages main focus to be on the cover image as it represents the artist. I have also used another convention which is the eye contact ,the audience will most likely focus and feel the connection towards the artist because of the eye contact on the cover image. The image also links to the headline Unas spicy romance. Therefore the audience can recognize the artist because of the cover image and the headline linking to it. The clothing that my artist was wearing also defines a certain music genre .

Masthead - MISBHVThe masthead in my music magazine is named MISBHV . This name has been created to represent the word misbehave. I designed this name to represent the Indie Rock music genre that my music magazine is based on,I wanted the masthead to give a hint to the audience what type of music the magazine represents as well as for it to give dangerous and rocky feeling towards the magazine . I tried to make the masthead of my magazine original , compared to all the other music magazine . I wanted the masthead to stand out and interest the audience because of the unique name. I decided to make the color of my masthead black on the inside and blue on the outside, to enhance the blue eyes of my cover artist and them for them stand out. The font that I used for the masthead is basic however it looks neat and suits the theme of my magazine. The font is also large therefore its very visible and readable.

Headline

I have included the headline of my magazine roughly in the center therefore it makes the cover page look balanced and organized. The headline stands out and its very visible due to its size and color . The color scheme that I used for the headline is dark blue and white. I have also used a recognizable and readable font, the size of the headline comes second biggest after the masthead . The headline links to the main artist on my cover page as it talks about the artist. The headline also gives an overview on what the audience can expect from the magazine . I tried to make the headline interesting therefore it catches the audiences attention and would want to make them read the magazine.

Selling LineI have placed the selling line above the masthead where its usually placed in magazines .The selling line is in the color of white. Underneath Ive put a white faded shape , to make an effect for the the selling line to stand out and be visible. The selling line is in the color of white to match the color scheme of my magazine. At the same time the selling line doesnt draw away the attention from the masthead as the size of the font is small however recognisable on the cover page. The selling line gives an idea that the magazine is a brand new Indie Rock magazine.

Cover lines/TextThe cover lines generate the interest to read the rest of the magazine. The colorscheme for my text black, white and dark blue. I done this specifically , therefore it stands out from my cover page. The color also matches the color scheme of my music magazine . Underneath the text I have added a white box with a minimum opasity. I have added the white box for the cover lines to be visible for the readers. I used a few fonts , this made an effect as the fonts looked interesting and they were different from each other. Every cover line that had a different topic was signified by a certain font. The use of different fonts also gave the magazine a interesting look.

Pull QuoteOne of the page elements that brings visual power to the page is the pull-quote. Pull-quote is a display element which is used to attract the reader and to break up long blocks of text. The effect of pull-quotes depend on their attractiveness, both visual and textual. I used the pull-quote to make the magazine interesting, and for it to provide some rich, important thoughts. The pull quote that I have used summarizes what the article is going to talk about and it represents the issue of the cover artist. The pull-quote is therefore copied from the main text. As a visual element the pull quote is instantly recognizable and different from the rest of the text on the page. The size, color and texture of the pull-quote is different from the surrounding text. The style of my pull quote is in a certain font that is eye catching and the color of it matches my cover page color scheme.

Magazine ColumnsColumns are essential tools to standardize the layout of the magazine. Columns helped me in getting order and structure of the magazine. In my article magazine I have used two columns which made the layout of my magazine neat and organised. The text is over the image which makes it visible and readable for the audience.

Barcode/Date Line/Issue NumberA bar code is the small image of lines (bars) and spaces that is affixed to retail store items, identification cards, and postal mail to identify a particular product number, person, or location. In a music magazine it is very important as it identifies the certain music magazine. The date line however gives the details of the date of the magazine when it has been produced. On my cover page I used the barcode and the Date Line for the magazine to look realistic. On my magazine article page I have used the date line to prove the date of the magazine and for it to look organized. Additionally I added the website of the magazine if the readers would want to gain more information about the magazine . Lastly, on my contents page I have used the issue number.

Question 2How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

Indie Rock ListenersIn my magazine I represented Indie Rock listeners. There is not much difference between the number of female Indie Rock listeners and the male Indie Rock listeners . The age range of the audience is usually in the16-25 age group.Indie rock draws inspiration from bands such as the Beatles, The Velvet Underground, and Radiohead.The audiences expectations for indie rock magazines is free-flowing and straight to the point. Natural and a stand out color scheme and someone you can associate with the genre Indie Rock (Artist/Band). As well as adding engaging headings ,trying to keep to most of the conventions of a typical Indie rock magazine, like the main picture is usually placed on the right of the front cover, and starts to cover the mast-head.Indie Rock Magazine supports all artists of all genres of Rock & Roll therefore thats what the audience will get out of the magazine.

RepresentationIn my music magazine I tried to represent two female Indie Rock artists. I have represented them as Indie Rock listeners in a certain few ways. The cover image Model represented a female Indie Rock singer. I have taken two photo shoots of the model. One was a denim photo shoot , were the model wore ripped blue jeans and a check shirt with a white crop top. The second photo shoot was a leather one, therefore my model worse a leather jacket, and blue jeans. The clothing and expression of the model therefore suited the music genre that Im presenting. The specific dress code of the artist was used to show the Style and clothing of a Indie Rock music genre, so the audience just by looking at the image will be aware of the fact that its a Indie Rock music Magazine. Secondly in the photo shoot for the music magazine article I have also used a female model. The fashion style of the artist was similar to the cover page artist. The artists clothing was a leather jacket, a black crop top and blue jeans. The clothing didnt vary much from one another however it gave a balanced and good fashion sense to the magazine. I have used female artists to attract the Indie Rock listeners which are mostly man and are most likely to get attracted to the magazine if they see a female model.

First Photo Shoot Images

Second Photo Shoot Images

ExpressionThe camera angle of the main artist for the photo shoot has been mainly close up . The face expression of my main artists is very appealing and thoughtful , however in some of the photos its very glazed or either radiant. I tried to portray the artists this way therefore they give a sense of happiness to the music magazine. And by the clothing that the models are wearing I wanted to create a contrast between those two, as the clothing and the facial expressions and poses are both attractive to both men and women. Also creating and branding the clothing brands to the general public and target audiences. On the second photo shoot images the model specifically used hands and arms. In the first image the hands were laid on the body therefore that certain pose could attract the audience and drag their attention into the image. On the second image the hands were laid on the head therefore that certain pose would emphasis the body of the artist especially focusing on lower parts of the artists body like the belly. The certain clothing was also used to to show off the very attractive parts of the artists body and for it to attract the audience and for the clothing to look presentable. At the same time I also tried to make the model look quite badass and aggressive on some of the images, as this music genre can also be aggressive . Overall the representation of the artist shows the Indie Rock world and how are females portrayed within it.

Question 3What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I have chosen the NME to look at as it is a It is largely associated with rock, alternative and indie music magazine, therefore it represents the same music genre that my own magazine does. The NME main magazine and website producer is Jo Weakley and the video producer is Ryan Forde. The group production manager is Tom Jennings, the Production Controller is Lisa Cley , the Marketing & Events Executive is Charlotte Treadaway and the International Editions are made by Bianca Foster-Hamilton.The main Publisher is Ellie Miles and the Publishing Director is Jo Smalley.The company that produces and distributes the magazine is the Time Inc.UKThis company produces the NME and advertises it and a variety of other brands. This company also has a website that promotes the NME magazine and has the most important and new facts about the NME magazine.

Production & DistributionFor my own Music Magazine I would choose the Time Inc.UK company to produce and distribute the magazine. Time Inc. is one of the largest branded media companies in the world reaching more than 130 million people each month across multiple platforms. Time Inc Ltd is a leading UK consumer magazine publisher. Almost two in every three UK women and over 45% of UK men read a Time Inc. Ltd magazine. That's almost 27 million UK adults. Time Inc. Ltd's diverse print and digital portfolio offers something for everyone. I would choose this company as it comes across as very successful in the United Kingdom. It would lead my magazine to gain lots of readers and be popular within the UK. The company is with a large portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year therefore my magazine would be promoted within the United Kingdom and not only, this would attract a mass of audience towards my magazine . Key information would be set on the Time Inc website about my own magazine in a example the Youtube Channel , the online store, subscription , news and other luxury information. My music magazine would also have a high budget

AudienceThe Time Inc.UK publishes mass audience magazines, therefore my magazine would also be a mass audience magazine. My own music magazine would be in the high budget category. Due to the mass audience the magazine will have a large annual purchase rate. The large purchase rate would lead to the popularity of the magazine therefore more readers would become interested and the music magazine would become well known. The magazine would attract a mass of Indie Rock listeners.

Who would be the audience for your media product?Q4/Q5

Q4In the reference to my target audience I have said within my evaluation and planning questions that I will cater for a large audience. The audience of my Indie Rock magazine would be 16-24 year olds. The target audience is both female and male audience, however there is a difference in the readership in the Indie rock magazines ,66% are male readers and only 34% are the female readers . Therefore by this data we can notice how the male readers are the main readers of the Indie Rock magazines. The target audience is most likely to be White British.

Typical Indie Rock Reader

Ideal ReaderThis is a image of a Ideal Indie Rock listener. His name is Mat and he is 20 years old, and single. He has his own Indie Rock music band with his friends, he is a guitarist and apart from that he studies Music Industry at University. Mats nationality is English and he was born in London and still lives in London. Mats fashion style is mostly black clothing that gives him a bit of a punk look. He wears classic items like a denim jacket, leather jacket, lots of black and white. He enjoys wearing ripped shirts &jeans that fits in with the Indie style. Mat is interested in the Indie Rock music genre that starts from alternative rock to post-punk . His favorite Indie Rock artists are : Arctic Monkeys , The Killers, The Kooks,Kings of Leon, Oasis, Coldplay ,The Strokes . His spends his free time on band practise with his friends. Each year during the August Bank Holiday Mat attends a Reading and Leads Music Festival. The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual rock music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. Mat loves going on music festivals with his friends so he can listen to his favorite bands and be a part of a mosh-pit !

The Indie Rock cafe website ; www.indierockcafe.com is a website where Mat and other Indie Rock listeners can gain information about the indie rock Artists&Bands , new realeses any other facts about that music genre. The Indie Shuffle wesite ; www.indieshuffle.com/ is another website where a Indie Rock listener could gain informatin about the most popular Indie Rock tunes and make their own playlist with the best Indie Rock tracks.Websites

In my music magazine I have represented the Target Audience by also making my Model to be a Ideal Indie Rock listener. I have chosen the certain clothing/makeup/lifestyle of the cover artist to fit in with the Indie Rock music genre and make the artists look as realistic as I possible could to portray hair as a Indie Rock singer. There are also signifiers on the cover page that its a Indie Rock music magazine, by adding a few names of Indie Rock artists in the coverlines. The fashion style comparing to the actual female Indie Rock listener is fairly similar. On images below you can see a Indie Rock artist compared with my music magazine artist. By making the magazine so realistic it can appeal to the real Indie Rock readers.

Range of people to show who the magazine is aimed at..

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Hardware Camera - Canon EOS 700D + 18-55mm IS STM Lens . 18-megapixel,fast action capture with 9-point AF and 5fps shooting, low light with ISO 12,800, EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens uses near-silent STM technology to focus quickly when shooting stills and more smoothly when capturing video. I learn how to use the Canon camera, how to zoom in , use the lens and add effects to make my image effective. What helped me with the use of the Canon camera was the instruction booklet.

IMAC APPLEWhen creating my magazine I have used a Apple Imac , the detailed information about this Imac is below .Model Identifier:iMac9,1Processor Name:Intel Core 2 DuoProcessor Speed:2 GHzNumber Of Processors: 1Number of Corses : 2 L2 Cache: 3 MBMemory: 8 GBBus Speed:1.07 GHzBoot ROM Version: IM91.008D.B08SMC Version (system): 1.44f0Serial Number (system): VM010JTF6MHHardware UUID: 50B77484-4495-524C-B1F1-CB24BAFE3775

Keyboard/MouseI have used a Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad - English .The Apple Keyboard with Numeric Keypad features an elegant, ultrathin anodized aluminum enclosure with low-profile keys that provide a crisp, responsive feel. It also has function keys for one-touch access to a variety of Mac features such as screen brightness, volume, eject, play/pause, fast-forward and rewind, Mission Control, and Launchpad. Its extended layout includes document navigation controls page up, page down, home, and end and full-size arrow keys for playing games and scrolling through documents. Its numeric keypad is perfect for spreadsheets and finance applications. And two USB 2.0 ports enable you to connect your mouse as well as a high-speed peripheral such as a digital camera or printer.

I have also used a Apple Mouse. The Apple Mouse's Scroll Ball offers full 360-degree scrolling capability up/down, left/right and diagonally. You can scroll long web pages, pan full-size images, maneuver around large spreadsheets, control a video timeline and more. And you can even click the Scroll Ball to access your favorite Mac OS X features such as Dashboard, Spotlight or Expos. It has a Touch-sensitive top shell, Force-sensing side buttons, Customizable and Optical Tracking.

Images

SD CARDI have used a SanDisk 16 GB Extreme Pro UHS-I SDHC Memory Card . A powerful SD UHS-I memory card ;shot speeds up to 90MB/s**, transfer speeds up to 95MB/s**. 16GB* SanDisk Extreme PRO SDHCUHS-I Memory Cards give users an opportunity to explore the true photographic capabilities without fear that their card performance will force them to compromise. With stunning read speeds of up to 95MB/s** and write speeds almost as fast, you can capture even fast-moving shots and video without missing a frame or a moments action.

X SERVEI have used a Apple Imac server .The new OS X Server is even more powerful. It's remarkably easy to install, set up and manage. And it's as intuitive as everything else on a Mac.Designed for OS X and iOS, OS X Server makes it easy to collaborate, develop software, host websites and wikis, configure Mac and iOS devices, and remotely access a network.

SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS5 & Adobe Indesign CS5By using photoshop I could edit images and designs and polishing and perfecting photos. The images can be disigned for print/web and apps. I learnt how to correct exposure , adjust colour and lighting , cropping and striaghting images and more advance edits like moving subjects within the image or transform images. I also learnt how to add blur effects and use other tools on photoshop. The Adobe Indesign CS5 helped me to create a perfect layout for my Magazine Article design and help me with using columns in my Article.

Learnt To Add Layers To the Text

Word Press&FirefoxI have built my own media blog on Word Press website .Word press helped me in managing to share my work in a easy way by using a blog .I learnt how to add blog posts and pages on my own blog as well as add images or any other content.I have used a Mozilla Firefox which is a free Web browser . The browser is a easy and fast in use, it helped me in my research and in finding the most important information.

Use of Word Press My media blog

OSX-operating system

Osx operating system is a series of Unix-based graphical interface operating systems (OS) developed and marketed by Apple Inc. OS X is the operating system that powers every Mac. Built on a rock-solid UNIX foundation, its engineered to take full advantage of what the hardware is capable of. The operating system is easy to use, its not the first time Ive used this operating system on a Imac, its easy to find and share everything. The Dock lets you launch your favourite apps with a click. Launchpad gives you quick access to your full library of apps. The Finder lets you browse and organise your files on your Mac and in iCloud with ease. Spotlight search makes locating documents, launching apps and looking up information effortless.

PowerpointPowerPoint Designer delivers high quality customized presentations by providing design options that help you maximize the visual impact of the presentation. By using power I could save presentations in OneDrive. Share them with others and work together at the same time. PowerPoint is a slide show presentation program that allowed me to do my work in a fantastic design.

SlideshareSlideshare gave me the the ability to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios. Concise, well-presented content from top experts. Instead of scrolling through pages of text, I could can flip through a SlideShare deck and absorb the same information in a fraction of the time.

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Student Magazine & Music Magazine

Forms & ConventionsI have developed my knowledge in using Photoshop and Indesign. To prove this I have presented the image of my first magazine which was the Student Magazine and the Music Magazine. Throughout making my Music Magazine I developed my knowledge about the forms and conventions. First of all I managed to develop and improve my masthead . In my student magazine I havent used any sort of effective layers or new fonts like I have in my Music magazine. In my music magazine I have used a original font that was downloaded and after certain layers and colour were chosen for it. In my music magazine the masthead is effective as the size of it is the biggest on the page which makes it visible to the audience, as well as it stands out from the other text on the magazine . However on my student magazine the size of the masthead is small and not very different from the other text which doesnt look interesting or eye catching. Due to this I can see how I developed my knowledge of the forms and conventions and of how to use Photoshop to make my music magazine conventions the best I can.

Student Magazine

My music magazine

Coverlines

The coverlines of my Student magazine were generally quite basic and didnt stand out from the magazine .The colour scheme of the magazine coverlines was poor and boring. The coverlines were layed out randomly all over the cover page therefore they didnt look organised and neat. There coverline itself wasnt effective as the meaning behind it wasnt very interesting. This is shown below on my first coverline. However the second image shows a coverline from my Music Magazine, from my contents page. This coverline is effective as the design of it fits with all the other text. The colour scheme of the coverlines matches the whole contents page and the dark outline makes the coverline look interesting and makes it stand out. Due to the font and specific effects the coverline is visible to the audience and the topic of the coverline is interesting and links with the Music Magazine. Lastly, I can see how I improved throughout making my music magazine and how my knowledge of using forms&conventions has developed as well as using Photoshop.

Contents Page

Contents Page DevelopmentFirstly as presented my Music Magazine contents page has hugely developed compared to my Student magazine contents page. My student magazine contents page has a very poor structure,design,layout,use of images as well as forms and convetions. This also adds up to not being able to use Photoshop very well because of the first time of me using it. Secondly, looking at my Music Magazine it shows huge improvemnts in development of knowledge and use of Photoshop within creating the magazine. The large improvemnt that I have made was in being able to lay out the images and coverlines on my magazine and making them look effective by using certain layers and effects. Another improvement I have made was in picking the right colour scheme for my magazine as well as on each page of the music magazine making sure the colour scheme matches with one another. I have improved my photographs. I have managed to pick the perfect scenery for my photoshoot, clothing , make up as well as the model . My ideas of the photoshoot have developed and my my music Magazine photographs compared to the Student Magazine photographs have highely development and were taken by my own high quality camera.Lastly, I have learnt how to target a specific audience in a magazine by making the music magazine appeal to the Indie Rock readers.

PhotoshopWhilst making my music magazine I developed my knowledge of using photoshop. I managed to learn a lot of tools from the basics to the hardest. An a example I managed to learn a basic skill of The transform command in Photoshop which allowed me to scale images (make larger or smaller) and rotate as needed. This applies to images and text. The main thing I remembered with this command is, to maintain proper proportions, hold down the shift key. Otherwise the image may become long and stretched out.

OverallThroughout making my Cover , Contents and Article page I have managed to develop my knowledge about forms and conventions of a magazine as well as using design software like Photoshop and InDesign. These skills that I have gained were really usefull in making my Magazine become succesfull and effective .