Completed Music Magazine

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

The layout out my magazine has changed drastically as in my preliminary task I have not thought about how the photograph should be positioned, and it looks quite messy as the text is placed quite randomly which means I have a lot of spaces. I have learnt to structure the text with the help of guidelines as I wanted it to look professional and neat, the picture is better positioned as it is now the main focus of the magazine cover.

My college magazine's picture isn't a good quality as it is slightly blurred whereas my music magazine photo is a high quality as I used and SLR camera which meant I could focus and zoom this helped to make the picture clear. In the preliminary task I didn't understand how to portray the college genre through techniques such as mise-en-scene to have improved the college I could of added props like a backpack or books, I learnt to portray the rock genre in my music magazine through costume and makeup.

I started to think about how the use of colours and font sizes can help the way a magazine looks. I have learnt that font sizes and fonts can show the magazines genre for example the masthead is a good rock font. I have used a big font for my artist name as this is the biggest feature inside and is the text that should first attract the audience thus showing I have an understanding of font sizes.

The layout of my music magazine is better structured that the college magazine as I have placed my text in a straight column rather than turning the page stories different ways like I did in the preliminary task.

The text font for my college magazine looks childlike and slightly girly whereas I have learnt that the font reflects the genre so for my music magazine I used a bold impact font to make it stand out and create a sense of urgency.

There is a lot of blank space on my preliminary task, I have learnt that you need to fill space and make the most of the space you have by including extra pictures or text, by filling the page it looks more professional.

The college magazine photos were taken in a rush and although they show college photos they don't necessarily look good, I now know that it is important to think about mise en scene  which I have done for my music magazine, I have included props like a guitar and the clothes on the model reflect the rock genre.

Evaluation: Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have used Blogger to show the process in how I learnt about making a magazine and then actually creating my own music magazine and then evaluating my work. After each lesson I would upload a new post to show what I had done in class that day so that it can show the progress I have made.

I have used Prezi in my Magazine production and Evaluation.

I have used Flickr to talk about media distribution for my magazine evaluation.

 I have used an SLR camera to take the photographs for my music magazine this helped as my pictures were better quality and I could zoom and focus.

I used photoshop to create my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I have used iShowU in my Research and Planning and Evaluation as I needed to go through my blog to highlight what i have done/used.

I have used iPhoto to download my photographs to the computer and select the ones I want to keep.

Evalation: Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience? on Prezi

Evaluation: Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product? Why?

I have drawn a person who represents the target audience of my magazine, I think she is the type of person who would buy my magazine as she seems to be quite creative (takes media at university) and would be a fan of music as she has hobbies such as DJ-ing so the audience will typically have an interest in music. I think the audience would wear typical darker and trendy fashion clothes as this would reflect the genre of music they like which would be rock in this case. The typical age for my magazine would be 18-28 years old so she fits into this age range and would purchase a magazine like mine as it suits the age range tastes and provides the things they would like to appear.

Evaluation: Question 3 - What kind of media instiution might distribute your product and why?

Please click on the images to be taken to Flickr.



Please click on the images to be taken to Flickr.

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

Posture/Gesture- Both photographs are similar in posture and gesture, the models/artists have their arms at their side which is quite a passive look that makes them seem relaxed. They are both stood up straight and are centre on the picture showing them to be confident women who aren't afraid of anything which relates to my artist's story.

Angle-The angle is eye level/straight on so it looks like the artist is looking right at the reader this will help to sell the magazine as the artist comes across as confident as they aren't hiding or shying away from the camera. The reader can then associate with the artist.

Shot Type- The shot for both images is a medium close up, I think this is a good shot to use as it allows the reader to see what type of clothes the artist wears which instantly gives them an impression of what genre and type of artist they are. This shot also enables the reader to get a look at the artists facial expression and their makeup which can instantly convey a message to the reader.

Lighting- The Photo's  both have good lighting however the lighting on my artist makes her skin look warmer which contrasts with the lighting on the other as it helps to pale the artist out further. The lighting is quite bright which helps the artist stand out from the background as it helps focus on their hair, makeup and costume therefore the reader concentrates on the artist instead of the background.

Costume- The costumes are very different in each photo, I wanted to dress my artist to wear a simple dress as I wanted the reader to focus more on her face, her costume makes her look quite innocent as it isn't baring much flesh and looks slightly childlike however I kept her in grey so the dark colour still portrays the genre. Taylor Momsden's costume (on the right) is used to get sex appeal from the reader, she is in back which could be seen as a seductive colour and it openly shows the artists bra which is quite revealing and provocative. I haven't given my artist any jewellery to wear because I wanted her to look innocent whereas Taylor is wearing a black choker and a long silver necklace as this helps to show the genre of her music.

Expression- Both artists look directly at the camera however Taylor (right) has her lips slightly parted which makes her seem a bit dazed and she is very sultry whereas my artist (left) has her lips closed with hardly any expression which makes her seem serious but the direct eye contact with the camera also makes her seem lightly confrontational.

Hair- Although rock artists usually have their hair in a messy style like they have just woke up and gone out without brushing their hair, the rock artist above and my model both have a certain neat styled look. Both have a middle parting with their hair coming down in a wavy natural style, which creates an innocent and feminine appearance for the artists. 

Makeup- The makeup for my artist is slightly similar to the picture on the right as both have dark black makeup for their eyes which make them seem piercing and slightly scary and helps them to stand out. The reader will focus in on this detail and this will provide false eye contact between artist and reader.The lips are inspired by this artist as they are a deep red which is a colour associated with danger, power and passion which makes the artist seem more confident.

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

Layout- USE I have used the same column style on my magazine as they have used on Q magazine, I copied this idea as it gave it a professional look. I liked how the artists and stories were separated with a thin line so I used this too, the main column on is placed on the right side on both magazines which lets the reader know where they need to look for the inside information. The photographs are positioned similarly as they both seem to take up the majority of the cover. DEVELOP Both magazines have mastheads in the left right hand corner however I have developed this slightly by placing my tagline in the mastheads box whereas Q have their tagline on the top line. My photograph is positioned differently as my models head overlaps my masthead whereas Q has positioned their artist underneath their masthead. CHALLENGE Our main stories are positioned differently, Q has positioned the artist's name directly below his face in a straight/ box look whereas mine differs and appears to be more messy which could represent the type of artist on my cover. I have used an effect to make the text 'Exclusive Interview' stand out from the page.

Colour- USE I have used the three colour rule from Q magazine of red, black and white as these colours suit my rock genre. DEVELOP however the colours of certain things change e.g Q's masthead is red and white whereas mine is black and white. My three colours have a relationship between my three pages and it consistent throughout.

Photographs- USE Both photos on the covers are medium close up shots, I think this is effective as you get to see the artists facial expression/ makeup and still see some clothing. The mise en scene is slightly the same as the background don't play a major role in the picture, it is the artist that is the sole focus. The body language is the same as the artists arms are by their sides which is quite a passive pose and facial expressions differ yet both artists cheeks are defined on the photograph. DEVELOP Q has covered their artists eyes with sunglasses whereas my artists eyes are uncovered as I wanted to portray a certain mean look to the audience. CHALLENGE Usually the artist on the cover is male so I used a female to show both sides of artists.

Story-  USE The language used on both is quite simple and to the point, we highlight artist names in the plus section and show artist/stories on out right hand column e.g my Kings of Leon is Q's Jack White. CHALLENGE I have put story lines to my main artist featuring in the magazine on the left side of the page this is to encourage the audience to want to read more.

Fonts and Font sizes- DEVELOP My font sizes are larger than the one Q uses, I have done this as text is also important to attract a reader so I thought if I wrote artist names that feature in a large font then the audience will see and want to read the magazine. I have used Impact for my main artist name as it is bold and stands out.

Layout- USE Both mine and Kerrang's content pages have positioned the column of text on the right side on the page and the pictures on the left. DEVELOP However I decided to use more text which takes up the majority of the page whereas Kerrang has used less text and more photos which dominate their page. CHALLENGE I decided to call my contents page 'The Circuit' which I have positioned at the top of the page as a main attraction and then I had 'Contents' coming off the C and placed downwards with a faded effect to show it is the contents page for new readers. Kerrang have positioned 'Contents' in the top right hand corner in a small box that seems to not take importance on the page. Kerrang have positioned their photographs in boxes that are placed in a organized manner whereas my three photographs are larger and overlap each other.

Colour- DEVELOP I have kept to the three colours of my other pages - red, black and white this is similar to Kerrang however they use red, black and yellow.

Photographs- DEVELOP I have used one long shot photo and two medium close ups which is quite similar to Kerrang as there photographs also seem to focus on the artists face, this is most likely used to show the artists facial expression which helps to portray the magazines genre. USE Two of my photgraphs show the artist looking away from the camera into the distance which is like the one used from Kerrang this portrays the artist as being moody or in deep thought. CHALLENGE The mise en scene of mine and Kerrang's photographs are very different.

Story- CHALLENGE My pages give a brief overview on what on the page which helps attract the reader whereas Kerrang just write the basic page information.

Font/Font sizes- I have used Georgia to make the text more readable, I have used a slightly larger font for my story lines as I had more space available whereas Kerrang has used a small font as their main focus is on the photographs. 

Layout- USE Both my magazine and Q have positioned a photograph on the left page as the main focus, I did this to attract attention to the artist as if the reader likes the photograph they are more likely to read the article. I have also structured the text into three columns as it gives it a professional look and fits in with my double page spread. DEVELOP Q's artist is central on the page whereas my artist leans to the the left. I have used a photograph I took of branches in the sky to fade beneath my text to give it a haunting vibe whereas Q has used the letter of the artists first name 'L' and faded it beneath their text both are good effects but with a different message being portrayed to the reader.

Colour- USE Q magazine and my magazine both use red, black and white.

Photographs- CHALLENGE I have used a medium shot of my artist whereas Q have used a medium close up shot. This helps as you can see my artists costume whereas Q's artist looks like she is only wearing chain which portrays different messages to the reader. DEVELOP The mise en scene is similar as both artists are wearing chains however Q have a plain white background whereas mine is a steel shutter door that the artist is chained to. My artist seems to be more fierce in her facial expression compared to Q's artist who seems more dreamlike which helps to portray the artists body language too as Q's artist seems to embrace the chains whereas my artist seems to fight against them which coincides with my story theme about nothing will hold her back. USE Both artists are female which is unusual as most rock magazines use male artists.

Story- CHALLENGE Q have wrote an article about the artist whereas I have used an interview technique to find out about the artist instead of just writing about her, this is a better method as the reader can believe it more and connect to the artist if the words are actually coming from them. I have put a quote from my interview on the left page with the picture this is to attract the audience and encourage them to read on.

Fonts and Font Sizes-  CHALLENGE My artists name appears at the top of the page in a big impact font whereas Q has place their artists name in a small font in a swirled girly font in the top right corner. My Large bold font shows what kind of artist mine is, I think this is suitable for my double page spread.

Research and Planning: Final Contents Page

Research and Planning: Final Double Page Spread

Research and Planning: Final Front Cover

Research and Planning: Progress of Contents Page

I have added a red stripe that runs down the middle as it breaks up the text and images which helps to separate them both out, it also fills up some white space and gives it more of a professional look.

Research and Planning: Double Page Spread Progress

I have noticed that my text is on the same level as my page numbers which doesn't really happen in a magazine so before my final piece I will move up my text and put my page numbers on a lower level.

Research and Planning: Contents Page Progress

I have added page numbers to the pictures however they don't seem to stand out or be clear so I have decided to put a box around them and change the boxes opacity for my final contents page.

Research and Planning: Magazine Progress

I have added my photo to my front cover however the masthead seemed to overlap my models head so I used photoshop to pace the models head over the masthead and tag line this works in other magazines too such as Q magazine. At the moment some of my text is blending in with the background so I plan to use techniques such as drop shadow to make them more visible and help them stand out.

Research and Planning: Photoshoot 4