Lauren OdleThe development of HYPNOTIK

music magazine

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms of conventions in

real media products?• My main influence and design ideas for my music magazine

was from the current magazine “VIBE.” however I was also influenced by aspects of “NME.” I used “VIBE” magazine because it was of the same genre as mine,“ RNB.” And had the same ideal aspects e.g colour scheme, tone etc. NME had some good design ideas, like font style etc so I used ideas from that magazine rarely.

Front covers. VIBE Vs HYPNOTIK

• Firstly both magazine covers come across sophisticated with a subtle colour scheme and tone.

• Both mastheads are positioned right across the top of the cover in bold clear writing, so the name is eye- catching . Will also be recognisable whether stacked horizontally or/ and vertically

• Both magazines have a banner, so major artists in the magazine are shown to be featured, making the magazine genre specific because if you don’t listen to the RNB genre you probably won’t recognise the artist.

• Both my magazine and vibe have taken a quote from our double- page spread on our major artists and placed it under the name of the artist. This will interest the potential reader, encouraging them to read the main article and think “hmm, I wonder why they say that.”

Both barcodes are at the bottom, this is to show that it is not an important feature, it is insignificant to the design .

Both models look directly at the camera. This is important because it is a way to have eye contact with the potential reader. This helps to draw attention, and gives the magazine a more personal feel.

Contents pageVIBE Vs HYPNOTIK

• The magazine title is written on the top of the page because it is the logo of the magazine. This in done because of branding, as a way to familiarize readers with the logo and colours of the magazine. However vibe magazine doesn’t do that it is established enough to just have the first letter of the magazines name in the background and is recognizable in that way. Both my magazine and vibe have the first letter of the title in the background “V” for vibe, “H” for Hypnotik.

• It isn’t common for a photograph of one person to be on the contents page however vibe always do it , whoever is on the cover is on the contents page. This could represent the artists importance in this edition or issue of magazine.

• The colour schemes are carried on throughout the magazines.

I loved the way vibe wrote contents page, as if the letters were stacked up on top of each other . It was a smart idea, creative without looking messy.

Double page spread VIBE Vs HYPNOTIK

Both of these magazines have a clear cut photograph, both take up a whole side the double page spread. This is showing the artists significance. It clearly separates the photo from the text and makes the double page spread look more organised and clear.Vibe uses a consistent colour scheme, my Hypnotik magazine also does as well. Vibe uses black, yellow and white and I have used red, black and white. This is important because sticking to 3 colours isn’t too much to the eye and makes it look sophisticated.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• My intended audience are mainly young females and are likely to pay attention to fashion, the latest, make up and their appearance. Just like any young person in today’s society. I represented and supported this by using a young, good looking model on the front cover. This model will be someone most social groups can admire and be inspired by.

• Because most of my intended audience are in a young age group I made the price of my magazine affordable and a monthly magazine so potential readers would defiantly have the money to buy my magazine.

The information from my questionnaire showed that more people in the age group I was aiming my magazine at preferred to look at the picture rather then read he writing, I made sure all the information and writing was tidy a clear, too much writing would bore my intended audience.

My target audience is females with about 20% of males actually picking it up and reading some of it. Because of this I included many articles to do with fashion, celeb gossip, some stories about both male and female artists too. This is what will interest females and males may read it if it includes some male stories as they may look up to some male models vice’ versa. For example

Digital camera

• The photographs in my magazine were taken with a digital camera. The camera used was a Canon SLR which is generally used for taking professional photographs. The Cannon SLR is high resolution and megapixels which means that they are big images, so won’t get pixelated if they are made bigger. It was important to use a good camera for my media product because I was trying to make it look as realistic and professional as possible.

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

I used the internet frequently during my planning mainly to help in research. When I have needed to look at other magazines and into other similar media products it was most helpful. The internet was so helpful as it had so much websites especially when looking for publishing houses.

Facebook was most useful when it came to getting beneficial results from my Zoomerang, ideal reader questionnaire. Because of it being a social network it allowed me result in getting a number of results from many people and it was easy and quick for them to reply.

Zoomerang I had never heard of before having to create my media product. It was so useful in my research as I could quickly sign up then compile a questionnaire online to send out to people to complete.

Google is one of the biggest search engines worldwide and I have used over and over again numerously. I used Google the most in my research. It was helpful in researching publishing houses and magazines.

I used Microsoft publisher often during my planning of my magazine. I have used Microsoft publisher

many times previously so it wasn’t a problem doing drafts of my magazine on this program. This

helped me on my prelim task. I’d used it before so I knew what I had to do and didn’t have any

difficulties with it. Everything you could do on it was basic, however because of that it wouldn’t be

professional enough to use on my final magazine.

Microsoft word was the easiest to use and I could use it to type up essays or evaluations I had to write up.

I never knew that I could create a blog so easily and could be used to display my work. I had never used it before this project and after a couple of attempts I managed to understand how to use it. I can use this new found website to present and compile future projects.

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

Before creating my magazine I had never used Photoshop before even though I knew off it. Creating this product taught me certain techniques I could incorporate in future product designs, by using professional editing programs. By using it I was able to make my product look like a professional magazine.

I then thought it would be a good idea to show my first draft of my magazine to a sample of my intended audience. They could give me useful Criticism and opinions on what is good and what should be added or changed. I knew my magazine would not look professional Without a bar code or price, this would make it seem more realistic and my intended audience agreed. So I put that on my to do list.

My sample said some text did not appear clear enough, especially my banner along the bottom so I made it my priority to give my banner a black rectangle back ground so it stood out.

Another piece of feedback I received was the fact my main story was too high up. This left a huge area of empty space which I did not want so I was to move my main story down, so ”BECKA” the artists name was in line with her eyes which would be another eye catching aspect of my magazine.

My contents page is so similar to vibe Magazine. I really like vibes layout of theirContents pages. Most magazines have a Contents page with a variety of photpgraphsHowever I kept mine like VIBE and used one large Photo. Even though my magazine consists of the same Model/ artist being photographed this shows their Importance which vibe also portrays, showing the artists power also.My sample of intented audience who were critizing My work said Becka should be moved to the leftAnd the text to the right.My font should be consistant which I realised would make more sense so I was to changed my text on my contents page to the same text I used on my front cover (Arial) My target audience said if I left it like this It would not really look like a magazine because it does not have enough w

A code and convention of a double page spread is to have the writing in columns otherwise it will not look professional. If I kept my double page spread like this it would look like a story.

“My photo looked too plain.” my target audience agreed on, I had many suggestions to add another picture to my current one or put a quote on the picture. So I decided to try both and choose which one looked better.

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

It would be very important for me to advertise my magazine around young people within the age of 16 – 21 years old. For example the age range enjoy social networks and watching certain music channels. I would defiantly set up a Facebook page for my magazine and get people to join the group, that way the magazine will become more and more recognised. Also I would organise a meeting with a music channel like MTV Base or channel AKA as they are RNB music channels and a huge number of my target audience will watch those channels. I could also advertise my magazine on a RNB radio station. Advertising can be very expensive so maybe if a company could sponsor the magazine that would be great.To publish my magazine I would probably use Intermedia Partners as they purchased vibe from producer Quincy Jones. If they have already had success with a good RNB music magazine then it would only make sense to use the same company. I could also use Devin Lazerine to be publisher as he is publisher of a very successful RNB magazine named “Rap Up.”On the other hand it would be good to use. The reason why I would choose these is because they would already know would sort of things will be needed to attract my intended target audience, what they like etc.

On the other hand, because my magazine is so similar to one they are already in partnership with, it would work well for me to take the completely different route. I could pitch my magazine to an institution such as IPC media. who do not currently distribute any media products similar to mine. The distribution of this magazine may appeal to them because it would widen their potential audience and therefore increase their profit field.

How did you attract/ addresses your audience?

The main aspect of my magazine I focused on to attract my audience would have been My colour scheme and my photographs. My target audience did not favour stories overPhotographs so I knew if I have a colour scheme that was bright, bold and stood out itWould attract my audience. My colour scheme was black red and white, my title was redSo it would be in contrast with black and white and therefore would be eye- catching.

I made my price of my magazine quite cheap after looking at my questionnaire results I Noticed most people were willing to pay roughly the same price, below £3 this magazine Would most likely be monthly so this was more then an affordable.

The name of the magazine I believe is enticing as the word “HYPNOTIK.” is a Connotation that the music has you in a trance, its almost hypnotic, it is catchy. The wayI spelt hypnotic with a K instead of a C as a play on words, spelling it with a K instead ofC gives the word more character. My title had the same colour as my model's lipstick And had a gradual tone to it to make it more eye- catching.

My intended audience is females so it was important to keep it female orientated, so thatIs why I used a female model on the front that looked quite admirable and fashion based I kept my magazine gender specific. Because my magazine was aimed mainly at females I excluded puff's about good looking male artists and I didn't want to forget aboutThe minority of males who may pick up my magazine and included stories on good looking female artists which women may aspire to be like or interested in knowing these artists Beauty tips

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

product?

• My prelim task was to start me of thinking about my composition off my final music magazine, colour scheme etc. I used Microsoft publisher to make my school newspaper for my prelim task. It was very basic. I used the program Photoshop for my final product.

• My progression is clear as on my final product I have used a variety of unfamiliar stylish font styles and was able to edit my photos with effects to give them a professional finish. I was able to make my music magazine look professional and more like a real magazine.

• When taking pictures for my magazine I used a professional high quality camera instead of a normal Polaroid which I had used for my prelim task because of this my photographs were of a good quality for my HYPNOTIK magazine and really gave a professional. My Polaroid camera made my prelim task (school newspaper) look more like a flyer or leaflet.

• I done careful analysis of other magazines that are hugely recognised and learnt the tricks they use on Photoshop to make their magazines look better and recognised what made them stand out from less-successful ones, and tried to use them when making my production. Photoshop has a lot more tools you can use to edit the my magazine to make the colouring, positioning and aesthetics of my final product more successful,

• My HYPNOTIK magazine looks much better then my prelim task because the extra research and tools from Photoshop I applied.