STELLASOUND!

Sharon Savarese Monk

1. Q1. In what ways does your magazine use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media

products?

Sky line

Attracts the eye. I tried to have repetition, in the sound of the words, on the first letter. This so that its easier to remember and sound more effective.

Masthead

The masthead helps the reader to recognize and relate to the magazine. The masthead is on the side because its easier and quicker for the reader to recognize the magazine on a shelf. It adds a unique point to the magazine because most magazines have it straight. It adds a brand identity The font is quite thin because I wanted to put more focus on the main image. The colour connects with the lighting of the picture. I wanted the masthead to be simple but effective for the target audience.

The left third

The left third show clearly what's in store in the magazine. Most of the content of the magazine is on the left side. The image is also positioned more to the left. This is because on a shelf the left third of a magazine is what the reader will see first so, it has to attract the eye.

Lead article

Name of artists is clear and stands out.

Main image

The main image is a way for the target audience to relate and connect with the artist. The main image has to inspire the audience and influence them to be like the artist. I wanted the model to pose casual but with a slight edge to keep the readers interested. The fact that you can see the artist clearly but with a slight shadow on her face connotes that there is a different side to the artist. The artist is smiling slightly which connotes that she is inviting the audience into her world. I wanted her to be unique but normal so that the target audience could see that she doesn't take herself too seriously and she is just a normal teenager so that the audience could relate to her. Her pose is showing a bit of attitude which also shows that she is confident with herself. The main image is poster style. I did this because I wanted the cover to be simple but effective. Also poster style is not well know and mainstream as other types so, this adds a unique selling point.

Free stuff

The majority of the survey results showed that my readers really like free posters. This attracts the reader.

Price

The price is reasonable from the results I got from my survey. Its also quite visible for the reader.

Front Cover

Pull quoteThe pull quote is very secretive and doesn't reveal too much about the article. This keeps the reader guessing and wanting to know more. The pull quote shows that the target audience are very interested in what the artists personal life is like.

Mast head

The mast head is clear and in the same style as the front cover. Its still on the side to show the unique selling point.

Page heading

The contents page has to show clarity. Clearly shown.

Features

Main image

The main image is fun and the artist is doing an interesting, quirky pose to keep the readers guessing. This shows that the artist doesn't take herself too seriously.

Picture by line

By line

These are some of the target audiences favourite artists.

Consistent use of colour

Font

The font is quite bold and clear so that the reader can navigate easily and find the main key features.

Regulars

Contents page

The page number stand out and are clearly shown.this helps the reader understand and navigate the page.Consistent house

style.

Masthead

Image

I wanted the artist to be portrayed under a different mood. In this picture her pose is friendly which connotes that she is inviting us to read on. The fact that she is looking away from the camera connotes that she might be shy or hiding something.

Featured article

Another unique selling point is the fact that the readers got to send in their questions to the artists. This creates a sense of connection for the reader. Also the reader feel part of the magazine, as if they helped in the making of the magazine. The reader can feel as if they are talking one-to-one with the artist.

Drop cap.

The drop cap adds a particular sense of difference to the page. It shows the reader where the article begins.

Stand first

Gives a little information of what happens before the pop star arrives. This sets the atmosphere for the reader. It also lets the reader feel connected to the writer so, that the audience feels more comfortable.

Column

Column

ColumnColumn

To space it all out and help readers not get confused.

Guttering

Double page spread

Consistent house style

2. How does your magazine represent particular social groups? I think that my magazine represents a particular social group is through Georgia Moore. This is

through how she is represented in the article and pictures. In my article I wanted Georgia to be seen as down-to-earth, true to her fans, pure, fun, head strong young girl. This is because I felt the my target audience could relate to that and become inspired by the fact that she is famous. My article portrays that Georgia is just like them in many ways so, that way the audience could identify with her. The fact that the readers could send in their questions and receive her answers, helped the reader feel connected and in touch with Georgia. Also the type of words I used are so that Georgia is portrayed as one of the readers friends and as if they where having a chat with her. In the article Georgia says that when she was at school she used to be a nerd. This shows the reader that you don't have to be cool to make it in the music industry. This gives the reader inspiration, feel as if they have a chance and not alone.

The images show a constructed representation of my artist's personality by alternating with her moods to keep the reader interested and on their toes. Also to show that she is a teenager too and she can have mood swings too. On the front cover she seems quite focused, proud, confident, content. On the content page she is doing quite an interesting, intense, fun pose. Instead on the DPS she seems to be feeling more cheeky, quirky and the fact that she is looking to the side connotes that she is thinking on what to say next. Also the fact that her eyes are looking towards the writing shows to the reader that she wants them to focus on the article. Also the clothing she is wearing shows the reader that she isn't as glamorous as they think and that she is just like one of them.

Because of the fact that there are many types of readers, which are interested in different aspects of the artists life, I had various different types of questions. For example the question about twitter shows that the fan is quite a stalker or the question about when was her first kiss shows that the fan is interested in the artists personal life.

The pull quote on the front cover is suppose to make the reader want to turn the page and read all about the article because the pull quote isn't giving away too much information but just enough to make the target audience say: “ wait maybe they are going out?”.

All in all I wanted the artist to be represented as fun, one of the group and unique so that the audience felt a connection.

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

I think that Bauer Media would distribute my magazine. I think this because of the fact that if you compare magazines like kerrang and heat with my magazine they have the same type of information and content as mine. Also because of the fact that heat focuses on celebrities mainly and that is what I tried to provide in my magazine. Heat focuses on different aspects of celebrities and in my magazine I show different types of celebs to bring all different types of audience to read my magazine. Al tough there is a comparison, my magazine is targeted at girls mainly. Also my magazine has a unique selling point because of the fact that a quarter of the magazine is ran by the target audience so that they can feel involved and interact to the magazine. They can send their questions to us to ask the artists instead of the magazine doing it. This is shown with a list of possible interviews that can be done 3 months later and readers can insert questions and comments that they would like to pass on to the artist. Given the fact that the reader can help producing the magazine, each time the magazine will be published the reader can send in the like and dislikes to the issue. Another aspect of my magazine that many others don't have is the masthead on the side of the magazine. This helps the reader find the magazine quicker and recognize the logo even when piled amongst other magazines.

I tried to grab different aspects of these magazine and use them as an inspiration for my own magazine. E.g. from heat I took the idea of loads of celebrities. From kerrang I took the idea of the layout of their contents page.

4. Who would be the audience for your

magazine?

From my reader profile I have included elements like: free poster, artists that they liked e.g. Katy Perry, bands, make-up tips, concerts coming up and different types of genre of music. These elements would appeal to the target audience because the target audience value what celebrities have to say because they are inspired by them. The target audience also likes a change. This is because they like lots of different type of genre of music and different make-up tips. Maybe the lifestyle of my target audience is a bit boring so, the are in search for something new. The reader seems to be quite open and wanting to try new things. They also seem quite friendly because they like all different types of artists so, maybe they like all different types of people. The fact that they like make-up shows that they value their appearance. From my reader profile I can tell that the target audience most precious value is music because it's their way of expressing themselves and communicating. They probably feel different types of emotions through their music.

Reader profile

Magazine project research

Since most of the audience was a mixture of genre of music, I tried to put different styles of music on my magazine.

I aimed my magazine more towards females than males because of the audience feedback.

Most audience wanted free posters so I gave away free posters on my magazine. Also I tried to make my magazine cost between £1.60-£2.50 from the feedback I got.

Q.5 Audience Feedback

Good points

Most people really liked the colours of my front cover. They thought it was bright and eye catching.

Good points

From the feedback we can tell that the audience finds the article interesting and likes the pictures.

Things I can improve on.

From this we can tell that the audience thinks that my masthead should of stood out more and I should add more pictures on the DPS. They also thought that there should be a wider variety in the colours. I didn’t use many different colours because I thought that might confuse people and it might look like its not from the same magazine. I will take his on board for next time, to maybe use more colours.

Further information

From this you can tell that the majority of the audience would buy my magazine because they found it interesting and appealing. Also all of the feedback said that the images where effective except for the one on the contents page which, seemed a bit stretched.

Q. 6 What have you learnt about technologies?

I have used several different online tutorials to help with my project. For example http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photoshop-text/text-effects/image-in-text/ this has helped my with the producing the image in text effect.

I used face book to post my work onto so, that people could do my survey and give me feedback.

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5.

1.

This is a step-by-step of an experiment I tried on photo shop to improve my skills and to get the hang of photo shop. This was an experiment I tried on how I wanted my front cover to look like.

This is the final look of the photo shop work I did as an experiment.

Step-by-step of work

Q. 7 What have you learnt?

I feel that I have learnt:-

• How to use photo shop more effectively.

• The magazine has to have a specific target audience.

• You have to do a lot of research and planning before you begin.

• You have to try several times to get it right.

I think looking back at my previous work, on the college magazine, I have learnt to use photo shop better. I have also aimed my magazine to be a bit more sophisticated. I also felt that my college magazine was a bit messy because I felt that there was too much information on the cover so, I tried to change that on my new magazine and make it a be more simplistic. I think that in my college magazine the pictures where not as effective as the ones on my music magazine. This is because on the front cover the model is looking down and it makes me think that maybe it isn't as eye catching and it doesn't draw the reader into buying it.

I think that there is a sort of link between my new magazine and previous magazine. I think this because of the fact that I have used the same type of colours and same types of style.

The project has encouraged me to study A2 media because I really enjoyed the whole course. I feel that I have improved as I went on during the whole course and I feel that I can develop new skills if I continue. I think that taking media A level allows you to be very independent with what work you will have to do because you have the freedom to make choices in what you want to do.