EVALUATION QUESTION 7

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

Looking back at my prelimary task I feel I have learnt alot, and built on the skills I already had. My preliminary task actually helped me alot to produce my final magazine as I used some of the same fonts and the same sort of layout as I felt they worked well. I have also become more confident on the programme photoshop, as when I did my preliminary task I only knew the basics, however now I feel more confident with "playing around" on photoshop, using different effects to get a more proffesional feel.
I also feel that I am more creative and my ideas are now more individual, as I have created somthing more unique and specific than I thought I would.
I also feel that iv expanded my knowoledge on where to look for inspiration. Instead of just looking at famous main stream magazines, I tried to search for more unique less known magazines which gave me inspiration when creating my own.
I used the internet to also seach into peoples blog's for information on what works well in magazines, other than earlier on in the year when I just went with my own instinct.

EVALUATION QUESTION 6

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

I have learnt alot about technologies during this media journey. At first I used online technologies such as google and google images to reseach similar magazines to the one that I was to produce myself. I found myself looking at other peoples blogs from websites such as Blogger, as well as creating and using my own blog to record all of my ideas and inspiration to show the journey of the production of my media product.
I used my own camera to take the pictures that are featured in my magazine, and then edited them on a programme called picasa, which is a photo editing programme created by google which allowed me to play around with the images and give them certain effects to make them look more professional.
The main programme I used in the process of putting together my magazine was Photoshop elements. This programme allowed me to make layers and bit by bit put together everything that is visual on my magazine. I particularly found the "magestic lassoo" tool very helpful as I had to cut the pictures alot and this tool was quick and easy and made it look professional.
When looking for fonts on the photoshop programme I found it difficult trying to find an interesting one that fit my genre. However I found a really good website called "myfont.com" Which had millions of fonts to choose from, making my work look more professional and interesting.

EVALUATION QUESTION 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine aims to attract an audience by the actual genre of it and what topics and issues it actually covers. However if my magazine was on a shelf in a newsagents, it would primarily attract by being very vibrant and colourful and interesting to look at. I have created this word document with speech bubbles describing exactly what would attract the reader.
audienceee

EVALUATION QUESTION 4

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
My Target Audience for my product would aspire to be like the people in my magazine and be interested in the genre and style of my magazine, and understand and be interested in the topics of the magazine.
The primary audience would be female, this is evident through the colour schemes being feminine colours, and the main topics being female musicians and female fashions.
However the secondary audience may be gay males as they may also enjoy the femininity.
Below is a collage I made of a typical buyer of my product.

Who Would Be The Audience For My Magazine

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EVALUATION QUESTION 3

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

A production company "owns" the magazine and the company has various departments such as,
1. Editorial
2. Sales
3. Marketing
4. Circulation
5. Design/layout.
A Media institution that would distribute my product would be a publishing company that has distributed other media products of the same genre and style.

For example the magazine which I used alot for inspiration whilst creating my own product is distributed by its own company "Nylon Holding Inc" and its publishers are Marvin Scott Jarrett & Jaclynn Jarrett.

Another Magazine I studied in creating my own was "INDIE" magazine. This magazine is published by a company called "Plastic Media" however I could not find alot of information about this company as I believe it is forgin.

However I looked into other Publishers of similar magazines, so I looked at Dazed&Confused, their publishers are Waddell Limited, which are based in London.
Id have a company similar to this as my distributor as they work with similar magazines and have a good recodniseable reputation.

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

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

My media product aims to represent a particular type of female, who is into individual fashion and also individual, non mainstream sort of music. Who's lifestyle is going to gigs,hanging out in trendy cities in cafe's etc.
This is represented firstly through the picture on the front of my magazine, and the kind of things that the magazine is about.
The girl on the front of my magazine represents the indie style of fashion as she is wearing a modern jumpsuit from the clothing store Topshop, (known for being an indie shop), and she wears "geek" glasses and has alot of flesh on show, showing her femininity.
However the magazine represents a particluar "breed" of British female. For example celebrities such as Alexa Chung, Peaches Geldof,Daisy Lowe and Pixie Geldof. All young, have an individual way of dressing and are often pictured at gigs or festivals. They are recodnisable by being pictured wearing similar sort of clothing and looking sort of "messy", audiences that enjoy this genre would recodnise them by admiring their style/look. Here is a few pictures that help sum up this social group.







The audience that look up to and admire this sort of social group would recodnise them as an "indie" sterotype and aspire to be like them as they are about the same age range.

Another recodniseable feature about my magazine is the text and what the magazines context actually is. My magazine advertises new music and maybe even unsigned music. This represents the same sort of social group that enjoys going to gigs and listening to new and interesting music and who are quite creative people.

EVALUATION QUESTION 1

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

My magazine uses some generic conventions of real magazines.However I wouldnt describe my magazine as being "mainstream" such as music magazines such as NME. This is because iv focused on a very specific genre that would only appeal to a particular sterotype. So I am going to compare my magazine with similar magazines that are also of the "young, electro indie" genre/sterotype.My magazine follows some typical conventions of these sort of media products.
Examples of these include, the way in which my front cover is setup and layed out. I took most of my inspiration for my own magazine from the American magazine "NYLON". The setup of NYLON is as follows;
-The large bold masthead located at the top of the page.
-The cover star/celebrity
-The main features around the cover star
-Different font types
-Modern typogrpahy
-Bright Colours
-Almost Always has a white background
-A female Cover star
-Female influences e.g Fashion tips, female colour schemes etc.
Here is a copy of NYLON magazine next to my own magazine.



There are many similarities between my own magazine and NYLON, however there is less writing on the page on the NYLON one, this makes it look more exclusive and more focus is on the picture. The white background also worked well to make the other features stand out. The other difference between my own work and NYLON is the colour I used for the background of my cover. Most backgrounds on the magazines I looked at were either white, or very pale. Whereas mine is a shocking pink colour. This challenges generic conventions of this genre of magazine.

Another Magazine I looked at in comparison to my own was the indie magazine called "INDIE"

This is a copy of an issue of the magazine,


My magazine is along the same genre as INDIE, as it is about "Cutting edge fashion and music". However the cover star is not recodniseable, there is little to no text surrounding the cover star. However the Mast head is big and bold at the top of the magazine- a generic convention of a magazine. Again making the magazine more exclusive and making the reader actually look inside the magazine to find out what it is about. However the image on the front of he magazine is very unique, almost selling the magazine through the style of the coverstar. This is what I wanted to acheive in my own work. Trying to make my audience feel asthough they wanted to be that person, or aspire to be like them.

In Conclusion I believe my magazine does follow generic conventions in magazines in general but also of other real magazines from the same genre. I think this works well as then to a consumer the product is recodniseable and sells as being formillia.

This is my final double page spread.
On the left hand side is an article about winter fashion, and on the right there is an interview with the cover star. The fonts I used for the main titles are from the website myfont.com

FINAL CONTENTS PAGE

This is my FINISHED CONTENTS PAGE!

Final Final Final FRONT COVER!

This is my final draft of my front cover "Electroclash"

Contents Page Research

Out of these Contents covers, I was particularly drawn to the plainer ones as the focus is then on the actual writing other than large pictures distracting from the actual information. These magazines are also similar to the genre of my own magazine, which has inspired me for my own contents page.

Font styles

I decided to see what other people thought about the typography I would use on my magazine. I decided to show my title to a range of people that would be interested in buying my magazine,( so my target audience).

I found that just by asking random peers, I found that they prefered the bolder fonts, in which I use on my magazine cover and plan to use on my contents and also double page spread.

Where does my magazine "fit" in the market?

I have styled my own magazine on other more independent less well known magazines that are usually only found in larger book or newsagent shops such as borders and WHSmith. These magazines are often monthly, this may be due to the price. The price of the magazines is usually over £3, but no more than £5. The quality of the magazines however is usually very high, as they are usually thick glossy magazines, sometimes with many advertisements. There is also only usually a few avaliable in stock as iv notcied they are supplied for a niche market. Also alot of them are American, which means they would have had to have been shipped over. These include, NYLON, N.E.E.T, INDIE, TEEN VOGUE, amoungst others.
I decided to do a small survey on a group of peers that fit the genre of my magazine to see how much they would pay for a similar magazine.

Survey on Magazine Prices

After doing my survey on 8 teens, the outcome proved that they were willing to pay between £2-£3 for the magazine. I priced my magazine at £2.80 as I was then able to stick with the needs of the consumer but also able to make a profit.

Colours

I was thinking about the colours that I wished to use for my magazine. I want to keep the colours fairly simple, and have variations of the same colour. But I may also try colours that contrast with each other. I feel that as i have tried to make the outfit that my model is wearing contrast, e.g. (Blue skit, yellow shoes), that if I try and make the colours on the same page contrast it may all look abit much. But if I try this where the model is wearing all black for example, this may work.

Firstly I wanted to look at different variations of the same colour.

This is a colour range of purple. As you can see it ranges from the darkest (black) to a lilac. I like this colour as I feel it captures a youthful vibe, and fits well with the age range I am trying to capture, as teenage girls often like the colour purple. Purple is a sterotypical "girly" colour. Another reason I like this colour is the fact that it goes quite well with the "electro" theme, as quite a few artists have the colour purple on their album artwork. This is a link to my work as the colours will attract certain people to look at the magazine cover.

This colour scheme is actually called "teenage". I really like the vibrant colours as I feel for my magazine the colours need to really stand out, like the music stands out. I quite like the electric pink colour on the right hand side as it is really feminine, but also it really stands out as it is so bright. I dont think these colours would work well together however as I feel it gives across quite a childish vibe.

This colour scheme is also quite childlike, but I like it. It conveys quite a youthful vibe, but also quite a feminine girly vibe. I am not overly keen on the yellow colours, but I really like the pink colours as they are really beight and eye catching.

FRONT COVER

This is my final copy of my magazine cover.

I am pleased with the final outcome.

I recodnise that my final cover is quite similar in terms of colour and fontography. This is because I realised that the work i had produced for the preliminary task was of the same sort of genre, and I think my work looked quite good, so I used elements that I had already used.

I chose to make the background a shocking neon pink colour as I think it really stands out and would grab anyones attention, it also gives a connotation of being aimed at females, and because of the strength and brightness of the colour, females ages between 15-23. If it where aimed at older females the colour may have been more subtle.

I chose this image of Rachael as I liked the pose she was pulling as it is quite different, and is more interesting than just looking at someone standing upright. It also looks asthough she is singing which is what I wanted as I think it further promotes the fact that the magazine is a music magazine. The fact that she is also holding a microphone also promotes this. I chose for Rachael to wear an all in one black jumpsuit from topshop, and some black ankle boots. I think the outfit is very appropriate as topshop clothes are often linked to the genre of music I am wanting to show, but also the fact that the outfit is black, contrasts well with the bright pink background. The fact that she is showing alot of leg may also attract attention from a male audience who may find it attractive.

I decided to write the word "London" on the background behind in a graffiti style as i felt that it was infitting with the urban new London feel. I had seen it written like this on a cover of Elle magazine and felt it looked really effective and although someone had just wrote it. I feel it again appeals to my target audience that may be the quite arty types.

As for the Masthead, I chose the same font style that I used for the preliminary task. I feel it captures a modern, quirky edgy feel as the letters are big and bold and have sharp edges and a shaddow.

As for the rest of the type, I chose to vary the different styles to make it more visually exciting but to also to vary the size and style. I also chose to make parts of the fonts bigger for more empahsis and attention. For example I made Rachaels name bigger than the rest of the text as I wanted it to stand out against the rest.

Preliminary Magazine Cover

This is the preliminary task that I completed on photoshop, using basic skills. It was the first time I had used photoshop, but I already had an idea about what I wanted to create. In general I think my idea worked quite well. Similarly to what I am creating now, I wanted to make my work look quite arty and fashionable. As we where asked to create a school magazine, I focused more on what would be a textiles or fashion department magazine. I chose the title "Boutons er flechettes" as it is french for buttons and zips, which I thought worked well as fashion is often linked with france and also it generally sounds more interesting than just being called "buttons and zips".

I also thought very carefully about the colour sheme I used. I wanted to be on trend and use fluorecent "rave" ish colours, so i opted for the neon pink colour and the light turquoise blue for the masthead. I think although these colours dont exactly match, the contrast makes it "work".

I also decided to edit the image and make it black and white. I felt the black and white looked very effective in comparison to the bright colour behind it. I also felt that by the main image being black and white, there was more room to play around with colour schemes because most colours will fit the black and white theme. It also gives it a "fashion" "stylish" effect, which being a fashion magazine, it needed to convey.

I also wanted to find a suitable font that also suited the genre of modern fashion and style. I felt the one I chose works perfectly and I really like it and think it looks professional as it has the shaddow effect on it.

I will use this to help me with my final front cover.

Experimenting with the front cover, colours, pictures and font.

This is the front page image that I created. I decided from research that I wanted to have a white background with a contrasting masthead. I think that the colour of the masthead works well here as it is linking with the love heart that Rachael is holding in the picture. However, I feel that the White background doesnt work very well as it just makes it seem unfinished. I really liked the font that I found on photoshop. I think it fully captures the style I am going for, (indie electro) as it looks very modern and bold and strong. I definatley want to use this font on my final product.

This was another experiment, but this time with a different name for the magazine. As my magazine is aimed at new/unsigned artists, I wanted to think of a name that would make this clear. "Introduire" is french for "Introducing" which I think fits well because effectivley the magazine is introducing new talent. I also think the fact that it is black works well too, as it stands out very well. However I still feel that the white background gives an unfinished feel.














As I felt that the white background wasnt working, I tried a pale blue background which I felt worked with the red heart in the picture, which is kind of a focal point. I like the contrast of quite a watery, pastel shade with the very vibrant red colour, however I still didnt think this looked right.

This is my favourate of the ones I tested. I chose the picture as the black outfit contrasts well with the very bright background. The picture also gives a "loud" feel which is excatly what I want to convey. I think the bright pink and the black works very well together, and the colours are sterotypical of the genre.
From this, I am going to further the layers and start adding to this to make it look more like a front cover.

Photographs that I took for my front cover

I took around 60 photographs of my friend posing in different ways, wearing different clothes. I asked her to model for my front cover as I felt that she is aestheticly pleasing. This is important as, as she is on the front cover, it will draw peoples attention to her and make them interested and look. I felt that she had the right sort of style and look that I was going for- quite quirky, arty and fashionable. She has also had experience of modelling so was naturally good at pulling poses for the camera.

The look I was trying to acheive in my photos, was quite a fun, colourful, fashionable and loud vibe.

Also as my magazine is primarily aimed at a female audience, I feel it was vital to have styled her in a specific way to appeal to a female audience, as females sterotypically are attracted to clothes and beauty.

However, I do understand that my magazine would now also possibly appeal to a male audience. I feel this because the photographs are aimed to create an impression as they are quite dramatic colours and poses. There is also alot of flesh showing which could be classed as quite provocative.

I chose clothes that had bright colours or where of the "indie" style. A generic feature of this is clashing colours, or very bright fluorecent colours. I wanted the outfits to look quite quirky and mis-matched to give the "individul" style. I feel by presenting the "star" in this way will appeal to the audience I am trying to target. For example people who like "indie" fashion will be interested in "indie" music.

I also looked to indie electro stars for inspiration on how they posed in pictures and also how they dressed. For example pictures of Lily Allen, Little Boots and La Roux. I feel this is evident in my work by the use of the image of the whole body and not just a generic shot of the face.

I decided to use the prop of a microphone in my pictures to create a music feel. When I was doing my research on pictures of music stars, they where often featured with a musical instrument. This links in very well as promoting my magazine as a music magazine and not a fashion magazine.

Masthead Research

Here are some examples of mastheads that I have found from magazines that are closely linked to the genre of my own magazine.

The mastheads above, I have taken and cropped from "NYLON" magazine. The masthead is the same every time a new issue comes out although the colour is constantly changing. However the colours always have a relevance to the issue and work well with the other colour scheme used on the front over. For example, The baby pink version of the title was used to contrast with the stars black hair, and also worked well with what she was wearing. The other typography on the page was also of a modern style and used colours such as baby blue and lilac, which worked well as a colour scheme. This also could give the connotation of innocence, as the colours are quite childlike. This could emply that the star is portayed as being innocent.

A feature that always come through in every issue with the mastehead is that the colours always have a "female" vibe or connotation. The colours are often quite feminine, so different shades of pink, yellow. The colours are often fluorecent, or very vibrant which also fits in with the genre of the magazine.

The actual font of the masthead gives a stong feel as the lettering is bold, and the letters are equally spaced between each other. Also as the letters are filled, so they arent transparent which would also give a "weaker" feel.

The white background I feel is very effective, it makes the vibrant lettering stand out very well.

The masthead makes it clear the audience it will be aimed at. For example the colours give the magazine a young teenage modern feel. The colours give an "out there" feel, and quite a loud feel. For example, just by looking at the masthead makes it clear that it wouldnt be exactly suitible for a buisiness person, or a person from an older generation.