Evaluation Question 7

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

I have now since this project increased my organisation skills, being able to organise different shoots with different artists in a short space of time.

I now know more about different locations and what’s suitable and what’s not. I made the mistake on the shoots of taking pictures in a dark room with bad lighting. This was at the time the only suitable place but after looking at the photos it became apparent that a reshoot was needed. I then learnt the rule of the two ‘golden hours’ of the day. This is either early in the morning when the sun is low or late at night where the sun is low. It turns out that where I used this rule in my shoots I ended up using one of those pictures as my cover image. Choosing the location is also a key. Although Q, NME and other music magazines do their cover shoots in a studio I prefer outdoor shots, they are more fresh and appealing, as they are brighter and the light is more natural. So I went on a hunt around Bristol for a cool location. I ended up by the docks where there are loads of unused trains, however also took shots with more of an urban background; graffiti. I felt these pictures turned out very good and professional because of taking into consideration the time of day and location.

My magazine involved a lot of editorial decisions. The composition of my double page spread was particularly hard. I had to play around with my image, where is will positioned and the size. I ended up stretching the picture so there was more room for text as before it was a bit bare. I also had to decide where my title was going be, I wanted it too look like a stamp, and therefore spend some time on Photo Shop trying to achieve this effect. In result of all of these effects and editing I had to do my Photo Shop skills and knowing what to do and when have improved dramatically.

Evaluation Question 6

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

During the production of my magazine I became even more familiar with Photo Shop. I was able to make effects from scratch to add to my pages such as the torn edges on the double page spread and the eroded background my contents page using different brushes and effects. It also became apparent that the use of grouping of layers and keeping organized is a must when producing something with a lot of text and different pictures that need to be constantly altered individually, so I got into a habit of doing that. This made it easy for me to edit specific elements. I also did some editing on photo shop for my final logo by playing around with different brushes and effects this enabled me to change a font from dafont.com into something unique and recognisable.

Throughout the process I used a canon 350d and have taken a wide selection of different bands in different environments. In result of this I have now got a better understanding on the settings on my camera and the different settings to use in the different environments. I have also used dafont.com a lot throughout the process of my magazine. This enabled me to produce a product that didn’t look like it was made on publisher, and made it look more professional. I also used tutorials to enable me to make my blog itself more attractive. Its is a black and grey scratch effect, this makes it more appropriate as it goes well with my magazine style, quite neutral, but edgy looking.

Evaluation Question 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Wherever possible, try to make the distinction between what you planned to do and what you actually achieved. Were you effective in fulfilling your original plan? Did you have to make changes? This is perfectly OK, as long as you can explain why you took decisions and can show you have reflected on whether they were successful or not. I have made my magazine bright, attractive and quite busy using eroded fonts, cool colour schemes and bright pictures, and used a variety of different styles of music. I have made sure that I took into account the responses I got back from my questionnaire and one of the main recommendations was to use lots of interesting pictures, which is what I have done. Another way I have attracted my audience is I have used free offers; prizes etc all over my front cover and also offered free tabs etc in the contents page. This will make my magazine seem better value for its money and make my reader feel like they are getting something out of buying the magazine.

To make sure that my magazine would attract my target audience I asked my target audience itself. For the main decisions that I made such as, name, logo, and general genre I made sure that most my decisions were based around the feedback that I received back. This has enabled me to gain a proper understanding as to what they are and aren’t interested in. Because of this I did have to make some changes. The name of my magazine was originally the ‘Big Band Theory’ however the responses I got back were that Live Feed was preferred. This meant a late development on my logo. I still kept big band theory however I used it has my main cover story instead as it was still liked just not as a name. Another change I had to make was the main cover image. Originally it was going to be a girlier picture as more of their clothes were being focused on. My target audience consists of both genders. The male feedback I got back wasn’t good so I changed the image to something more neutral, showing more of the train, the guitar and their faces. To also guarantee a good feedback from my male audience I made sure my colour scheme wasn’t too girly as well, so I used colours like red and yellow rather than pink and purple.

Overall I think that my magazine in terms of relation to my target audience was successful. The feedback I got from both male and female presented with a nearly finished product was mainly positive which is a good sign.

Evaluation Question 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have chosen to present my product to both male and females around the age of 16-30, I chose this because after conducting a questionnaire to that age group this was the age range that seemed to be most interested in music magazines. I asked what styles of music people of that age range preferred to listen too and I got quite a variety of responses. It then became apparent that people nowadays don’t listen to just one style of music they like anything that is new and fresh. However most music magazines focus on certain genres and popular well-known bands. My magazine needs to set apart from these so I have used a variety of styles. Because of this it has resulted in me being able to represent my target audience, which is everyone of that age group.

My magazine is £3.50, which is quite normal, compared to other monthly music magazines such as Q, which is £3.90, metal Hammer is £3.99 and NME, which is a weekly magazine, is £2.20. The responses that I got back from my questionnaire of those that don’t read magazines were mainly because they are too expensive. I have taken this into consideration. My target audience are most likely going to be students or new and low down in the work force. Because of this I made my music magazine to a monthly subscription, and have made sure that I link a good easy to use website that is updated regularly for my target audience to use as well as buying my magazine. That way they can keep up to date on new music and gigs etc as well as be able to afford my magazine.

Evaluation Question 3

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

My magazine is very similar to ‘NME’ and ‘Q’. Therefore it’s the their publishers that are likely to want to publish my magazine; ‘IPC’ and ‘Bauer’. Future Publishing however maybe would be less interested because the main magazines they specialise in are rock magazines, such as ‘Metal Hammer’ and ‘Classic Rock’ unless they were looking to develop this market.

The target audience of my magazine will link to who might distribute it. To uphold a regular readership I will need to make sure that it is distributed in well-known places. I will make sure that it is sold in newsagents such as McColl’s and Dillon’s so that it will be easy to get hold of. Also, big supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda, Morrison’s and Sainsbury’s will be good suppliers to have for my magazine. This was also a suggestion in my questionnaire, one of the replies I had back was that she would buy the magazine if it was sold in well known places along side other leading music magazine names such as NME, Kerrang and Q which also seem to be available pretty much everywhere where possible. Another way that this magazine could be used is for students who are taking the same course as me and need some inspiration on how to make their magazine.

Evaluation Question 2

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

Because my magazine covers a range of music genres I have covered the main social groups in my target audience age group e.g. indie, pop, rock and club. From the questionnaire I conducted my target audience don’t just like one style of music so I have therefore included bands that cross over to a majority of styles. I have the main indie band on my double page spreads, which are an indie rock style for example all the boys are dressed in skinny jeans. The girl is also good looking which also attracts my male audience. My target audience would want to read about this band as they suit the style of a popular genre of music that my target audience are interested in. (which I established in my evaluation) they are interviewed in a jokey way where they are presented as laid back, talented and mature young adults, however with the swearing abbreviation at the end it still represents people of that social group as quite cheeky sometimes. I also involved my audience in this article, to make sure the content of the interview was also interesting to them, so they asked the questions. On the contents page I put Lewis on his decks as my main image. This shows a whole different style of music, the dance/club style. I dressed him in a Wesc hoodie, a vans t-shirt and a 59fifty flat peak this style is a popular style within my target audience and therefore would be able to relate to this artist. He is also presented within a club scene, which is also a main interest within my target audience. This also represented the social group as talented. He’s a mixer that can produce some amazing mixes on request. This will be shown on my magazines website. On the other three images I have done the same thing. For the Girl band on the top left I dressed them in accessorize accessories and bright clothes, this is also popular within my target audience and therefore can also relate to the artists, and want to read about them. I also used this band as my main image on the front cover. The main singer is dressed in a long floral dress with wellies, This signifies the festival, summer type look which is popular within the girls of my target audience. By dressing them with this look it has enabled me to connect with the target audience as they can connect with the artist. The other two images are similar as well. The solo girl singer is holding a ukulele which is an instrument that is looked upon as quite cool to play in my target audience. So overall regardless of the social group of that age I have represented them in a positive way.

Evaluation Question 1

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

After deciding that that my media product would be a music magazine, my first objective was to make a product that looked professional. After conducting some research I concluded that one of the main features of other music magazines is their cover image, therefore this was something I initially focused on. For example, Kerrang uses studio pictures which have been digitally manipulated to make them more exciting; for example when Prodigy was on the cover shoot, the floor had been edited to appear to be cracking beneath them ********** In order for my magazine to look as professional my cover image therefore needed to be as eye catching as possible. I did a variety of photo shoots with different styled artists and eventually chose the most colourful and interesting photo; I was particularly pleased with the depth of field expressed in the photo due to the foreground featuring the lead vocalist, and the guitarist more in the background.

In contrast to most cover shots which feature a studio posed portrait my shot was taken on location on a train, giving the impression that the band were on the way to a gig. I felt that an interesting environment would help in the overall interest of the shot. However, from my research from other covers I also concluded there should be an amount of dead space for text and other pictures around the focal point so when setting up my shot I made allowance for this.

Another important aspect of a good magazine is the logo; this is what makes it memorable and upholds the reputation. After some research on music magazine logos, it was evident that they were bold and not that overcomplicated. ‘Q’s logo is a prime example of this; it is just the letter Q in a white font bound within a red box. Rolling Stone and Clash are also good examples as they have chosen a font that is very memorable. When developing my logo I made sure that I followed those guidelines to create a memorable and interesting looking logo, which linked to the name of my magazine and was not overly complicated.

My next objective was to come up with a appropriate name, I noticed that most music magazine names weren’t that obvious, yet seemed to give the right impression to the reader. After conducting some market research with my target audience the top 3 names out of a potential 5 were ‘Live Feed’, ‘The Big Band Theory’ and ‘Unheard’. I then concluded that ‘The Big Band Theory’ was too long for a name so I used it as my main cover line in the end. It was then between ‘Unheard’ and ‘Live Feed’; I thought ‘Live Feed’ was a preferable name as it related more readily to new music, which was the subject of my magazine. I concluded that LIVE FEED would be a suitable title.

The second main feature of a magazine is the layout. In order for a magazine to be taken seriously it had to look professional in terms of the layout. I made a variety of draft layouts before making my magazine to make sure that the text and pictures were evenly spaced out and selected the right photographs to use in order to do this. My cover was mainly influenced by NME and KERRANG in terms of layout, because they have a similar target audience. However it differed significantly with the colour scheme and style.

The contents pages I researched such as MOJO, NME, Kerrang and Q all used a majority of pictures. I therefore used this general layout for my magazine’s contents page - but in order to make it flow I have continued the background of the main picture blended to the rest the page and layered other pictures on top. This has made it look more unique compared to other contents pages; without loosing the main element of lots of pictures.

The magazine’s content was the next to be considered, and was arguably the most important aspect to consider; If the masthead and cover lines aren’t interesting enough and appealing to my target audience then it wouldn’t sell. After some research on cover lines and teasers most successful magazines seem to not really tell the story properly but just give an interesting quote or hint. NME, for example, used the headline ‘ “No more rock opera” My Chemical Romance on their punk comeback album’. So they used a quote from the article, and a little information, but making the reader want to know about their new album. The use of capital letters gives the immediate impression of being more shocking to the reader, and more interesting. Clash used a good technique to give the reader a brief understanding of the types of bands in the magazine; on the issue I researched they listed 2 band names on the front cover that are included in the magazine ‘Biffy Clyro and Greg Wilson’. This, combined with the image Kurt Cobain for the main cover image, immediately conveys to the reader the rock style before even looking inside the magazine. I made sure that I achieved this as well by listing a variety of bands, with different genres that are included inside my magazine.

All music magazine double page spreads all seem to be mainly pictures and the text fit around this. An NME double page spread that I posted on my blog was a prime example of a catchy, interesting and easily readable double page spread. The text was small, the headlines were big and the picture takes up most of the page. The success of using a lot of images on the double page spread also became apparent in the questionnaire that I conducted. My target audience wanted lots of pictures in the magazine because this adds to the interest. Taking this into account I decided to make the ‘Crime Suspects’ image take up the whole page and fit the text around it. This made the text a bit easier to read rather than quite daunting. Another way, in which music magazines present their text is having sections of the writing in a larger font and in quotes, I was able to do this in my magazine and also make my questions in bold. This makes it a bit more interesting and also more professional. I do however think I could have thought about the layout of my text a bit better as some is covering the image and some isn’t. Maybe by editing the image so that I had more room at the bottom of the page to add text like I did on the side. Overall I feel that I did achieve my main goal, to make it look professional, as I did a lot of research from different music magazines such as Q, there layout looks effortlessly good with their simple and mature layout. My target audience is younger than Q’s so I made it a little more busy and bright.