Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question Six: Looking back at your Preliminary Task of designing the front page and contents of a school magazine, what do you think you have learnt from it to the final product? 


Throughout this coursework, I have learnt many different skills. In my preliminary, I started to use basic skills on Adobe Photoshop and Pages which when producing my final task of the music magazine, the skills were extended as I had more knowledge into the programmes. From my Preliminary, I took parts of the magazine which I thought were effective and developed them on my music magazine, whereas I looked at what I thought didn't work and learnt from it.

Firstly, I created a flat plan of my music magazine, just as I did with my preliminary. Before I did this, I looked at at my prelim task and looked at the positives and negatives, taking parts to use in my music magazine.

In my Preliminary the images I took I believe weren't really effective enough to draw in an audience, due to not taking enough time to take them and not making significant effort. I learnt from this in my final task, planning a time which fitted into everyone's schedules meaning I could experiment more and take more time to take successful images.

Furthermore, in my preliminary I used the slogan 'BE IN THE KNOW!'. I decided that the use of a slogan made it more memorable and catchy. Therefore, in my music magazine I chose to use 'Love POP. Love LIMITED' as it applied to the Masthead and made it clear what genre it was going to enclose.


To see my finished Preliminary Task click HERE.

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question Five: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? 


From constructing my magazine front cover and contents page, I have had to use many different technologies which I wasn't capable of using previously, but they was extremely essential and will help me in the future.

Adobe Photoshop 

Adobe Photoshop is an extremely difficult programme to use, but once you learn the basics on how to use it, it has a lot of different features which are highly beneficial in editing images and text, making it more professional. Before I started this coursework, I had never used Photoshop before, so I was new to using all the different resources available making it difficult for me. However, with help from my teacher and fellow students I soon got to grips with the programme. The one tool that made my front cover look more appealing was the 'Pen Tool', which allowed me to crop around my girl band, removing the background and placing them against a plain, grey background. Without Photoshop, this wouldn't have been possible and my magazine would have been far less appealing.

Pages


Pages was for me another entirely new programme for me, one unheard of for me before I started my Media course. I used this programme to create my contents page and double page spread. Unlike Adobe Photoshop, Pages concentrates on the layout of the page rather than the editing of images meaning you can really concentrate on how things are placed around on the page. It allows you to zoom in and out, and also move images about freely. Furthermore, it includes a tool called 'Photo Frame' which allowed me to create borders around images, such as; a ripped picture and picture frames. This made it look more effective on the page. Another beneficial tool was being able to put my text in columns on my double     page spread, making it seem more professional and like a real magazine article.

Slide Share


www.slideshare.net was a website which allowed me to upload Powerpoint Presentations, meaning I could experiment with ways in which to publish my work on my blog. Using a blog was new for me, and I soon realised that using just plain text throughout looked plain, and Slide Share allowed me to change this.

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question Four: How did you attract/address the audience for your music publication? 


An important part of my magazine is the audience I attracted, which including using certain things such as; typography and images.

The first thing I took into consideration was the typography, as the Masthead is the first thing the reader looks at, making it extremely important. I chose a simple, but 'fun' font as that is what the genre of Pop is highly associated with. I chose the colour black as it can't be associated with a certain gender, making it unisex. Also, it stands out against the grey background. Furthermore, the text is curvy attracting the female audience, but also has some strong, sharp edges which draw in more of the male readers. An earlier blog entry explains in further detail why I chose to use the font, and other designs. CLICK HERE. I used various different fonts varying in styles as to reduce gender inequality and make it appealing to older teenagers.

Another important feature of my magazine was the image I chose to use on the front cover. My main image on the front cover was of my girl band 'The Plastics' who put the edge in Pop. Unlike stereotypical girl bands who are normally seen in dresses/skirts and heels, they each have their own style making them original. For example, one of the girls had a black vest top, white cardigan, beige leggings and biker boots, whereas another had jeans, black top, a colourful scarf and biker boots. Not only does this make them original, it is also the type of clothing older teenagers 16-19 dress in today making them relate to them more than the airbrushed, 'perfect' celebrities. Furthermore, this more attracts the male audience, as don't look too 'girly' and males are more likely to buy a magazine with an image of females on the cover, as they may feel people would question their sexuality if they did otherwise.  To find out more about the images I used, CLICK HERE.

Thirdly, I used a competition as a way of addressing my audience: 'WIN! Tickets to see CANDY LANE on tour!'. As 16-19 year olds aren't likely to earn a lot of money to waste, as they believe they have a chance of winning something making it free, this means they are getting more for their money and also competitions are seen are fun things to take part in. The more competition and freebies a magazine includes, the more readers it  is most likely to draw in.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question Three: Who would be your target audience for your magazine?

My target audience for my magazine is boys and girls, specifically aged 16 to 19. Unlike Top of the Pops, I am aiming to attract older teenagers rather than 11 to 15 year old readers. I have explored this by looking at typography, graphology, colours and various other factors. The price of my magazine also depicts the age I'm appealing to as they are more likely to have money to spend than young teenagers, but £2.40 is a fair price and means they don't have to over spend to buy a magazine. However, Top of the Pops is 20p less than my magazine, but I decided it was appropriate to be a little bit over priced than a magazine aimed at young teenagers, as it has a more mature and a wider content.

The fact that I have decided to appeal to both females and males is unusual for a magazine which focuses on the genre of Pop, as it is normally targeted and read by females a lone. This is due to magazines such as, Top of the Pops which have created a stereotypical image, with their pink colour scheme and articles which focus on feminine subjects, for instance; make-up and female fashions. On my front cover I have included a cover line: 'Find out the latest POP fashions!', which will include both male and female fashions, which is why I never included cover lines similar to Top of the Pops, for instance; 'A-LIST Glam!' as the word 'glam' applies to women which isn't what I intended to suggest it was going to be aimed at.

To see a more detailed analysis of Top of the Pops magazine in a previous blog by me, click HERE.

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question Two - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?


My magazine could be categorised with existing music magazines such as: Top of the Pops, Kerrang! and many more. This is due to them both people distributed in corner shops, local shopping stores and in retail. Top of the Pops magazine is a BBC publication which is distributed in traditional methods of distribution as seen above, which promotes bands and artist's to help their sales of the bands records and associate the BBC with a teenage audience. This makes the magazine accessible to all ages and genders, which is exactly what I intended for my own, in order to keep it not limited to certain people.

Another popular place that would sell my magazine would be shops such as, HMV who specialist in music publication. They normally have music magazines situated at the till points, meaning once people are in the queue ready to pay, they are more likely to pick up a copy of the latest music magazine to keep up to date.

I chose to price my magazine at £2.40, which I think is fair seeing as it is packed full of competitions, prizes, news, fashion and interviews. This is similar to Top of the Pops, which is priced at £2.35. Also, as I want it to appeal to readers from the ages of 15-19 they are more likely to have the money to spend meaning they won't find it overpriced.

My magazine would also be involved with online publishing with its own exclusive website, as in this modern day society most people use the internet, meaning it will get out to a wider audience. Also, this would allow people to have an insight into the magazine by finding out about it, meaning they have more knowledge on it, encouraging them to purchase it in the shops. Magazines such as Kerrang! have an online magazine: http://www.kerrang.com/
This includes features such as: news, access all areas, swag, podcast, k! magazine, tickets, shop, subscribe and bands.

Evaluation Question 1

Presentation1

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Finished music magazine front page, contents page and article

Finished magazine slideee

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Creating image for front cover

Creating picture for front cover

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Final Photographs for magazine

These are my final images I have chosen for my Music Magazine -

This is my main image I am going to be using on the front cover.

I chose this as the main image to promote the band 'The Plastics', as it highlights the type of audience they plan to attract just by this one image. The way they are dressed is very unique as they all appear to have a different sense of style; reinforcing how their music isn't what you would call 'stereotypical Pop'. Furthermore, they are dressed in clothes which people from 14-19 would dress in, meaning their audience isn't limited.

This is an image I have chose to use on my double page Article of 'The Plastics'

This shows them having fun singing in a recording studio.

This is the second image I have chose to use on the Article.

I chose this image as it shows they do intend to have fun rather than being serious all the time, which is depicted by a funny face being pulled by a member of the band.

Photoshoot Planning

For my magazine front cover and contents page, photographs had to be used in which I had to take. These had to be effective and draw in the readers to the magazine, meaning I had to think about many factors for taking them. I decided for my main picture on the front cover to be a long shot of my main celebrity band, and my contents page to include three pictures; one male artist, a female artist and another picture of the main band. As I chose three images, this meant I had to do plan three photo shoots.

First Photo shoot - Main Band


For this, I used four friends of mine, who I believe will be very appealing to my target audience, as they have each have a very individual style; which will capture the female readers, and also are very attractive young girls, meaning male readers will also be drawn in. Getting them all together to take the photographs was hard as they were never all free to do after school or a weekend, as I would of preferred taking the images in my house as it would have been an easier environment to work in, and for instance if needed make up and clothes could have been altered. However, as this wasn't possible, I chose to take the shots in the Music and Dance building at Acland Burghley school. This provided an effective setting and as it was in a school environment it fitted in with everyone's schedules.
To make the picture as effective as possible I had to think about:

• Make-up
• Costume 
• Background
• Body language
• Facial Expressions

Second Photo shoot - Male Artist

For my second photo shoot, I am using another one of my close friends but this time in a completely different environment to the first one. This time, I used my friends garden against a brick wall to create an effective image. As it was in his house, this gave me more of an advantage as I was able to adjust costume if I didn't think it was suitable. 

To make this picture effective, I thought carefully about: 

• Costume
• Body Language
• Facial Expression
• Background

Third Photo shoot - Female Artist

For my third photo shoot, I chose to use a friend of a friend, as I believe she gave across an appropriate image for the genre of Pop. Again, I took this image whilst at a friends, but this time inside of the house against a plain, white wall. 

To make this picture effective, I thought carefully about: 

• Costume
• Body Language
• Make-up and Hair 
• Facial Expression
• Background

Flat plans for front cover and contents page of music magazine

Finished music magazine front page, contents page and article

Finished magazine slide

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Band for my music magazine: The Plastics

I chose the name 'The Plastics' for my band, as it was inspired from the film: Mean Girls.



I wanted to create a band with a rebellious image, so I decided this would be appropriate. Similary to the film, I used four girls but I created a different image. I had them wearing clothes individual to their own unique style, which would appeal to a wider range of people, including males. Furthermore, I decided to create a Girl band, as they appear to be more successful in this time period, and the male audience would be more comfortable with picking up a magazine with a group of females on the cover rather than a group of males.



However, 'The Plastics' wasn't my first decision for a Band name. I also come up with ideas such as: Love Hearts and The Stars. However, I felt 'The Plastics' was the best fit name for what I planned to create; a rebellious side to Pop.

Masthead Designs

Logo designs

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Final images chosen for Prelim Task

This was the image I used for my front cover, as I believe it was a very strong image with bold colours, attracting the readers attention. Also, it sends across the message that revising is important, which is essential for a sixth form magazine. Furthermore, as the student is sat on a sofa, it shows them in a relaxed environment. 

This is one of the images I used for my contents page, as it shows the student on the front cover revising in a different atmosphere; less relaxed as they are in a classroom. Also, I got the student to have a slight smile to resemble how as he is doing all his revision he is stress free. 

This image was also used on my contents page, as it depicts the social life in Acland Burghley. This shows two students laughing and seem relaxed, showing how in sixth form there is a lot of work, but there is time to relax and socialise with peers. 

This image was the last I used for my contents page, which highlights that Acland Burghley is a specialist Arts School. 

Evaluation of Preliminary

Evaluation of preliminary

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Preliminary Task Analysis

We have currently been focusing on a premlim task, of creating a magazine cover for Acland Burghley. Firstly, we created a sketch of what we wanted our front cover and contents pages to look like, and tried to bring this to life on photoshop. We tried out different fonts and special effects, learning how to use all the different tools on the programme, and experimenting with what looked better. 

For my front cover, I decided to use:

•  A mid-shot of a pupil revising, sitting on the sofa in the il@b, with there eyes focused directly on the book, which suggests they are a hard working student. I chose to do a mid-shot as you are able to see their surrounding and the prop. This relates to students as they will have to revise throughout their time in education, meaning it may lure them in to reading it.

Secondly, we created the contents page. I used three different pictures which showed different aspects of the school.

• An image of two pupils laughing whilst socialising in the common room
• A pupil working hard revising
• A pupil standing by the art in the school entrance, highlighting they are a specialist Arts school.

I created the contents page on a programme called 'Pages' rather than 'Photoshop', which focuses more on the layout of a page rather than the editing of images and text. 

In my Preliminary task I overcome many difficulties, and although I believe it was a successful student magazine, there are many features which could have been improved. 

My school magazine overall with the front cover and contents page contained 4 images all relating to student life and all the different aspects of it. In my plan, I decided I wanted the front cover to be a mid - shot of  pupils socialising in the common room and a mid - shot of a student revising in the library. However, I then realised it would be difficult to make the magazine look presentable with two pictures, and it would be more effective to have one picture giving across a message; the revising picture seeming to be most important. However, I decided to use the picture of the two pupils socialising in the common room on the contents page along with my other two chosen images as stated above. 

The name of my Masthead 'Burghley Newz' I chose as it appeals to my target audience. Firstly, it is clear that it is aimed at students attending Acland Burghley, and I chose to use slang to attract my readers. 'Newz' which should be spelt 'News' depicts that it is aimed at teenagers who are commonly linked with slang terms. The font I chose was a curly font; which looked elegant; attracting more the female audience.I used the colour red so it was a colour not specifically related to one gender. However, to make this magazine not limited to girls, I made some decisions with colours and other fonts.

I chose the slogan 'BE IN THE KNOW!' as it implies that if you buy this magazine, you will never be left in the dark, as it tells you everything you need to know. Also, as my Masthead was in an elegant, curly font, I decided to make the magazine more appealing to boys to do this slogan in bold, strong writing. This made it stand out on the page, and as I used the colour blue against a white background, it highlighted this piece of text even more. 

The Prelim Task Finished

This is the Front cover of my school magazine (Preliminary Task) finished.

This is the Contents page of my school magazine (Preliminary Task) finished.

Content Analysis and Target Audience

During my Media Lessons, we have been analysing a range of different magazines, including: NME and Top of the Pops. These two magazines have a massive fan base, and are extremely popular. They both target a different audience and genre. Doing this involved us doing a deep analysis of the front covers, looking at why certain codes/conventions have been used.

                                                             NME Magazine

NME (The New Music Press) is a weekly magazine associated with the genres Indie rock/alternative. The magazine is full of advertisements which depict the target audience; V Festival review, guide to the worlds greatest rock festivals and interview with a member of the Rock band; The Killers, festival tickets and various others. Also, the lure on the front cover: 'i'm having a personality crisis right now' for the interview is followed with three pictures which appear to be torn between each other, reinforcing the idea that he feels as if his personality has been split. 

Top of the Pops Magazine

Top of the Pops is a monthly magazine which focuses on the genre of Mainstream Pop. This magazine differs from NME in various ways. Firstly, the amount of advertisements throughout the magazine were less, and included different things such as: Tampax, Always, Make-up, fashion accessories and phone ringtones. These limit the target audience, stating they are aiming to appeal more to girls.