Evaluation of my magazine final

Evaluation of my magazine

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or

challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products?

Title

For the masthead of my magazine I used a font that I found off www.dafont.com to do my title which was ‘STEREO’. I looked at hip/hop and RnB magazine titles and found that a lot of them were quite bold and plain colours. So I thought I would challenge the usual convention of the magazines and go for a bright colour to stand out but still keep the title itself quite bold, to make sure it still stands out straight away to my audience.

I think that my masthead works well with my magazine as it has kept some of the same conventions but also challenged it but using different fonts and colours ect.

Mise-en-sceneThe mise-en-scene of my images fits in well with the Hip/Hop and RnB conventions. On many magazines I looked at I noticed the backgrounds were plain and simple and they mostly used just a plain coloured background or a cut out of the image. The images used in my magazine followed these conventions well, as I used plain backgrounds for the images or just cut out the images using Photoshop. Also the poses used in my images portray the genre well as they are all posed images which is what the hip/hip and RnB genre go for, but my images were also quirky and stood out by their body posture and facial expressions etc.

http://www.dafont.com/


conventions of real media products? Costumes/PropsThe costumes and props used in my music magazine are very conventional towards a hip/ hop and RnB magazine. I didn’t used many props in my pictures partly because in magazines I have studied the images were very plain and didn’t include many props but instead they used the costumes, body language and facial expressions to make it stand out. I went for the traditional clothing of my genre which is baggy clothing for boys (Jeans, big jackets, baggy tops) and for the girls nice simple jackets, little shorts, crop tops and jewellery). I did use earphones to support the music genre, but I also used glasses on my front cover to make the cover lines stand out and make more sense, which made it more effective.

People usedThe people I used in my magazine were unconventional to what are normally used in the hip/hip and RnB magazines. This is because the people I used were younger that what are normally seen in this genre, for example the artists are normally older like (Rihanna, Nicki Minaj or Jay Z etc). On the other hand I did try to keep some conventions in place by using just one artist. Many Hip/RnB artists out there aren’t in groups or bands they tend to most of the time be solo acts. I followed this convention by using different artists on their own. I think this made it more effective as my magazine was ranged with many different people to look at which made it more interesting to the reader to look at.

Title font/styleI created my title firstly on dafont.com, that is the site I used to get the font. I then adjusted it in Photoshop by adding a bright colour to make it stand out more. I also used a stroke effect on the title to make it more effective to look at. I think my title follows the conventions because it is big and bold which is good because it stands to a more younger teenage audience, but by also adjusting it with effects like a stroke it avoids some conventions but works because it makes it more appealing.


conventions of real media products?

Click on the layer being adjustedClick the

effect you want

Choose the size you want the line


conventions of real media products? LayoutThe layout of my magazine follows the conventions more towards a RnB magazine. I have followed these conventions in many different ways throughout my front cover, contents and my double page spread. My front cover uses all its cover lines on the one side of the page, which is sometimes seen in RnB magazines, I think this is clever as it cuts down on the text that your meant to read inside the magazine but also doesn’t take the attention away from the main image. It also has the masthead at the top of the page in clear view to the readers. My double page spread includes an interview with a celebrity with a few different pictures, and my contents is also very simple with one main image and many different sections of pages too look at. I have also included a little image at the bottom which is sometimes seen on contents.


conventions of real media products? Written contentInside on my double page spread I tried to follow the codes and conventions of what you may see in a hip/hop, RnB interview. I used many questions that you may find in music interviews these may include things like, tour dates for the artist, or about the songs they may have released. One main convention I followed is including the cover line about the artist in the interview as well ( in this case the story about her glasses). By doing this I think it makes the interview more enjoyable to read as it is covering all different aspects so there is no need to get bored. I also made it look more appealing by using a convention of putting certain quotes from the interview around the page and also using text wrap for one of them.

How my magazine shows my music genreFor my magazine I chose to do a mixture of a hip/hop and RnB genre. I chose to do this because I think both genres have many similarities between them but some unique differences which were goo d to include. I think it is clear what sort of genre my magazine is from many things. For example the clothing I used for the people is the sort of fashion you will see artists from that genre wearing . I also chose to include well known famous artists from this genre in the cover lines and contents to make it clear, because by using them in it, the readers will already get a sense of the genre. I chose big bold fonts to use as well, and my masthead for front cover and contents are in a sort of street look font.

Click the text you want text wrapping Click the text wrap

box at the top of the page


conventions of real media products? Contents PageMy contents page includes many elements you may find in contents pages of my genre (Hip/hop and RnB). I have used one main big image of a long shot so it will fill one half of my page. I have also sectioned off everything I’m including in my magazine to different sub headings these include; Features, Celeb gossip, tour dates and other. I made sure my masthead was bigger than any other text on the page, and I have also added a quote relating to the picture. By doing these things it is making my magazine more conventional to the genre I am aiming it to.

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

I am comparing the picture from vibe magazine on the right to a picture from my magazine on the left.I think that it is clear what social group I am aiming my magazine too. Its clear that my magazine isn’t aimed at rockers or emos or indie people etc. It shows who I am aiming it at through the type of clothing like little hot pants, crop tops and big ‘bling’ suggests fashionable girls (glam girls) but also the sort of boys that will wear baggy trousers, caps etc that will like to look at the girls in the magazines too. I tried to keep my image similar to the one on the right (out of vibe magazine) by showing a lot of leg and figure by doing a long shot . But also focusing on things like the make up and hair and making it big to its effective and stands out.Even though the picture from vibe magazine on the right is looking at the camera and my picture is looking away they both share the same straight faced pose. Both images have their hair down and its quite big as well. The backgrounds from both pictures are plain with no colour. Over all I think my image represents a young teenage age group who like to keep up on celeb gossip and the latest fashion trends which is what I was aiming for as nothing is too over the top and most things relate back to my target audience.

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

• I think IPC will be the best media institution to distribute my media product for many reasons.

• IPC have been around for many years so they will have a good background knowledge and experience in helping to distribute my magazine worldwide.

•They already distribute magazines now such as ‘NME’ and others, but they haven’t yet distributed a hip/hop and RnB magazine, so already there is a gap on the market for a magazine like mine that could be a good seller.This may also help them as they haven’t done this before so it would be a good new selling point for them too.

• I did also look into Bauer to publish my magazine as they already do ‘Smash hits’ and ‘Kerrang’ but I found they do a lot more of lifestyle magazines etc. Also by already doing a magazine a little bit similar to mine (smash hits) my magazine might not be the best seller.

• InterMedia is another publisher I looked into, but I found that they already do magazines like VIBE which is very similar to my magazine, and because of this my magazine may not publish well and they might not also want competition.

• I found that this is also based In America, which wont’ help me as my magazine will be based in the UK.

• Because of all these reasons I feel IPC may have more of a better background knowledge of music magazines than Bauer and I think it will sell better with IPC.

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

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Intermedia-partners-logo.PNG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JanetJackson_Vibe.jpg

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

Who would the audience be for your media product?

Target Audience

For my target audience I have chosen to aim my magazine at white and mixed ethnic male and female teenagers and middle aged adults. Also it can be aimed at one of the four consumers mine would be the Aspirers as they strive to achieve their own status. For my teenagers the age range will start from 15 and will go up to about 28 for the middle aged adults. I have chosen to do this target audience as I feel the things that will be included in my magazine will relate more to this age range more than a younger or older age group. Some slang will be used in my magazine so I feel its important to take into consideration on who would understand what I’m talking about. I feel my magazine may be more bias towards females because of maybe some of the things included like the colour schemes, fonts and maybe pictures but both male and females will be able to benefit it from the information inside. This will include things like interviews with celebrities or celeb gossip etc.

Colour scheme is pink on the front, and the colour scheme for the font is very pink and purple (more bias to females).

5.How did you attract/attract your audience ?

How did you attract/address your audience ?

I firstly proposed a questionnaire asking questions to my target audiences of what they like to see in magazines, by doing this it helped me in making my final product.


For my front cover I attracted my audience by the main images and cover lines. I made sure there was something that stood out to them straight away as soon as they saw the magazine. For my magazine it was my picture. I made my picture take up most the page so there was something interesting to look at. Secondly I made all my cover lines stand out by using different colours and fonts.

For my double page spread I attracted my audience with the quotes I used from the interview. I did this as in magazines I have looked at I found many do it, but it also gives the audience an insight to what the interview might be about, and by putting interesting quotes around the page from it then it might attract them to actually read it. I also added a few images to make it look more appealing too.

I attracted my audience on my contents by the images and the headlines for the stories inside. By adding interesting headlines and stories that might relate to my audience then they will feel more interested to buy it and read it because they are able to relate to it.


Below are some peoples opinions about what they thought of my front cover:

“Very eye-catching and the fonts stand out”

“The front cover itself is very colourful so its nice to look at and its something that will grab your attention”

“The font that the heading is in is different but relates back to the genre”

“ The picture is a good picture and is very in your face and its probably the first thing you see”


Below are some peoples opinions about what they thought of my contents page:

“Used different colours for text which makes it interesting to look at”

“The clothes on the person are stylish and stand out to a typical genre”

“ The background colour is effective how its like 3 different colours because it makes the picture stand out more”

“The layout of all the text is good how it isn’t like most magazine contents”


Below are some peoples opinions about what they thought of my front cover:

“ Looks interesting to read because of the pictures around it”

“ Pictures are attractive and eye-catching to look at”

“The tour date information at the bottom is interesting to read as its useful to people who listen to that type of music and the arrows around it are funky”

“I like how there is different effects for different pictures it makes them all stand out separately”

6.What have you learnt about technologies from the

process of constructing this product?

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

Paper Draft

Before starting my music magazine I firstly drafted out my ideas on a piece of paper. These were rough ideas I had thought of to give me a baseline to help me when I was creating my final product. I think by creating my magazine ideas on paper first it made it easier when doing my final piece because I was able to have guidelines to work from and I knew where I was going with my magazine.


Below are the technologies I used in order to create my magazine:

• Camera

• Computer

• Photoshop

• Adobe In Design

• Adobe Illustrator

• Picnik.com

• Slideshare.com

• Blogger.com


Photoshop

I used Photoshop to create my front cover, but also for images and text that I wanted to put on my contents and double page spread in In Design. I found that Photoshop was okay to use because I had briefly used it before in my preliminary task. I sometimes found it hard to cut out images I wanted too as there was always a bit being chopped off. I used the quick selection tool at first to get rid of most the background, but found that tool hard to use when I wanted to get rid of little things. So to get rid of the little bits I used I decided to use the magic wand tool.

Using the quick selection tool to cut out the main bits.


I also used Photoshop for my text that I wanted on my front cover. I thought that my cover lines at first looked a bit boring and plain with just different colours. So I decided to use ‘fx effects’ which I hadn't used much before to enhance my text to make it look more appealing and attractive to look at. When I looked on what effects there was for my text I found there was many different effects too use. I chose not to use effects on all my cover lines as I thought it might be too much.

This is what my other cover line looked like before I put any effects on it.

This is what my main cover line looked like before effects.


Firstly I clicked on the ‘fx’ button at the bottom of the page.

I clicked on all the effects at first to see what I liked and firstly decided I want to add a stroke

This is what my cover line looked like after I had added the stroke onto it.

I then added a bevel and emboss to make it more bolder and to stand out more.

After adding the effects this is what my cover line looked like.


For my second cover line I used the same effects but also added an outer glow on the text as well so it wasn’t exactly the same and the main one at the top. The outer glow at first didn’t make that much of a difference to notice it and I didn’t want it to look the same as the other one so I changed the colour of my stroke to black to make it more effective.

This is what it looked like after I had added the outer glow and the stroke of black.

After adding bevel and emboss my final cover line looked more bold and 3D.


Adobe In Design

I found that adobe in design was a bit easier to use than Photoshop. This was because it wasn’t as complicated to use. I thought that some things confused me when trying to create my contents page and double page spread because I hadn’t used them before, but I learnt to use new things like text wrapping which I have already showed but I thought was really effective.

I firstly created the text that I wanted in a normal text box.

I then placed the text where I wanted it to be text wrapped (in this case, in the middle of my article)


I then clicked the button on the tab at the top of the page to text wrap my writing.

After clicking the text wrap button my text ended up like this in the middle of my article which is how I wanted it.


Adobe IllustratorI didn’t use adobe illustrator for anything apart from the shapes I used on my double page spread. I used this for my shapes as I thought it had a lot more variety to choose from

I firstly clicked the tab that said ‘window’ and then scrolled down to ‘brush libraries’.

I then clicked the shape that I wanted and chose whether I wanted it special or standard.

After clicking standard arrows a big list of arrows appeared meaning I had a lot of choice to choose from.

Lastly I clicked on the arrow I liked and readjusted it to the size I wanted it.


PicnikPicnik is an internet site that is used to edit and manipulate images. I have used picnik many times before for different occasions so having a little background knowledge on how to use it helped. I found that editing pictures in Photoshop was confusing and difficult so I chose not to use Photoshop but instead use picnik for edits and adding things like frames around the pictures. I also learnt some new technologies whilst looking through picnik as well. I found that picnik helped because it had more choices for edits than Photoshop.

I wanted to change the coloured photo to a more black and white photo, so I did this by clicking on the black and white effect.

I decided I didn’t want it too black and white so I faded it a bit so some colour was still there.


Click frames on the tab.

I then chose through the borders I wanted and decided I wanted a plain one.

I decided I didn’t want a black border as I wanted a colour that would bring out the picture more to make it look more effective so I chose purple and then pressed apply so it would apply to picture.


I also used picnik to edit the picture on my double page spread so it would have more brightness and colour in it. I chose to do this as I thought having a variety of different effects on different pictures would make my magazine look more effective and appealing to look at because everything was a little different.

The first effect I used was boost which was a colour enhancer. When I first pressed it, it looked like this which I thought was too much so I put down the strength a bit.

After lowering the strength of the effect my picture looked like this.


I then decided to add another effect on top to really bring out and enhance the colour in her face and body, so I chose to use the effect ‘Orton-ish’. After clicking it I found it was too bright so I toned it down by fading it really low again.

My final picture

I lastly finished this photo off by cutting it out in Photoshop so the background wasn’t included.


I did also use little technologies along side making my magazine these were things like:

College Camera to take the images for magazine on.

The college computer to make my magazine as it had all the software I needed to use on it.

My memory stick to keep any of my work on to do with the making of my magazine.

Blogger.com was used to upload my final magazine products to my blog along side any additional things.

Slideshare.com to upload research and planning from my PowerPoint so it looked all neat and was readable to anyone.

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

to the full product?

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

One thing I have learnt since doing my preliminary is that appearance is defiantly one of the most important things when people read a magazine.

Because of this I have learnt to use new things to make my appearance look a lot better. These things included using new technologies on Photoshop and using new websites to help towards the making of it as well.

One website I used was dafont.com, this website is full of different images and different styles of font, I used this to create the title of my magazine, and my main cover line.


I felt that it was important to make sure that I had more of a variety of colours to make it look more appealing. Rather than sticking to just two colours like it did on my preliminary task.

So I kept to a colour scheme of a pinkie/purple but added some blue for the fonts. I feel this worked well as it made everything stand out more and give it more of a visual appearance.

I also learnt how to insert a P.U.G onto my front cover. I thought with one of these it breaks away from the structure of the normal cover lines.


One thing I learnt on my contents is that less is probably more. On my preliminary contents I filled it with loads of text and boxes. But after looking at a few magazines I found that less text makes it look better.

With less text on the page it makes the main picture look more effective which is what I wanted as after I done some research I found audiences prefer images more than text.

One main thing I did learn when making my music magazine is how to make a gradient background.


My gradient background made my magazine have more of a visual impact for the readers. The colours went well together and it made the picture and the text stand out more. I didn’t know how to make a gradient background for my preliminary so I tried it for my main task and I think it worked out well.

Firstly you need to select your background layer to put your gradient on to.

I then went on to the side bar and clicked the gradient button.

I then picked the colours I wanted from the colour tab and dragged them down onto the bar to make the colour.

I then clicked onto the gradient swatch tool on the other side of the page, and dragged the line in different directions on my page until I got the background I wanted.


From the progression from my preliminary to my main task I think making my double page spread was the biggest thing I learnt, as I hadn’t made one before in my preliminary.

Although I had worked in Adobe In Design before for my contents page I had never actually learnt how to create the double page spread itself, so I think one main thing I did learn is just creating it.

I learnt when making the double page spread that it was vitally important to make sure I had no spare space. This was hard as I had to fill two pages full of pictures and text.

I feel that because I made my contents page and learnt how to make a double page spread as well, my skills in In Design have defiantly improved a lot more than Photoshop. This was because I learnt how to import many more images, how to make two columns of text, text wrapping and importing pictures from Adobe illustrator etc. So I think I now have more knowledge on In Design that Photoshop.


After firstly clicking a blank document I changed the number of pages from 1 to 4.

I then clicked ‘pages’ which was on the tab on the right hand side of the page to show me my page layouts, which was this.

I then finally had to drag my one page down from the middle to the bottom to make the double page spread at the bottom like above.

Entertainment & Humor

Evaluation of my magazine final