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

After my preliminary task, I found doing a questionnaire really helped as it assisted me to ask questions which answers would benefit me in making my magazine. Once I had the results I could make my magazine as the people wanted it to, so it would be better as it would be what they liked and wanted. I also realised that by studying products similar to the one in which I wanted to create,  I could identify the conventions that are related to a magazine production which, I could use or challenge to make my magazine look better and more realistic. I did more thinking about what sort of photos I was going to use and when I did the photo shoots I thought about different angles such as close up mid shot or a long shot so I had a variety of shots to work with and use from. Using the blog to present my work was a lot easier and better than having to hand in a hard copy and printing everything off.

My preliminary task:

Thecoursework front cover:

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

I started of by learning how to use http://www.lunapic.com/editor/ <- that website as a photo manipulating website. I learnt how to use the different tools and what they did. Tools such as :

Brightness

Sharpen

Crop

Colour saturation

Ect.

All of these tools were helpful for when I came to edit my pictures. 

Once I had manipulated my pictures I had to learn how to use gimp, ( a software like photoshop) to create my magazine. This was difficult because I had never used it before. I luckily picked it up quite quickly and figured out how to move layers, how to create text and move it and how to make my magazine look good.

I had to use gimp, because we have a problem at school where we couldn’t get Photoshop so the school got gimp instead. However when running gimp at school the computers ran really slowly and it took forever to do something quite minor.

Once I had created my magazine I then had to learn how to use the blog site, which is the way that I wanted to present my work.  This was quite easy as I picked it up quickly and it wasn’t that hard to use. I then started posting all of my work.

This is the opening scene from the website where i manipulated all of my images.

This is the opening screen of Gimp.

This is the opening scene to the blogger.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted and addressed my audience by using a bright bold mast head which stand out in the magazine rack and would attract the readers eye, this is the same for why I used red as my font. I used bright, contrasting, colours on my fonts and backgrounds. This makes the magazine easy to read, colourful, and  attractive .

I attracted my audience by images and models of roughly the same age This makes them easier to relate to and persuades the readers that they too can get the look and give them ideas in which they can dress like.

I made the price appealing at the price of £1.99 which is more affordable for young people, who are students and I also included ‘freebies’ such as posters to make the magazine more appealing. I included relevant music artists and photos for the music genre my magazine is based on.

I used mode of address where I spoke to my readers as if it was personal and as if the magazine was “talking” to them. This entices the reader into the magazine and is going to be more likely to buy it. The language which I used in my magazine is informal, and they type of language which the reader would use in their day to day life. It is consistant with the style of the magazine and it wont contract with itself because where it is so many different types of genres there isnt just one focus.

As well my magazine would have a website, where people could look at articles, play games get advice ECT, a mobile number where they could text answers in to a weekly question. They would have a facebook page as the age of my audience is all about facebook and always on it.

Also it would have a weekly compotion so that the readers could win something big.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience which I am targeting my magazine at is, both males and females, who would be between the ages of sixteen and twenty two years old. I wouldn’t specify that they had to have a like in any specific genre of music, as my magazine would have all listed and talked about in it. The type of people which I am targeting my audience at is working/middle class ( of the BSG scale of C1, C2 and D.) the type of people who I feel would be interested in my magazine would be students, so they have a little bit of income, but also most students of that age have part time jobs so they have some spare money going about.

I did a questionaire and handed it out to people around the age of which i wanted my music magazine to be, to see what results i got and to see what type of things they are into. I have done the results of this questionaire in graphs to get a better knowledge of  what they want and what they are into.
My magaizne isn't aimed at any sort of sterotype, just the general teenager and  young adult.

This is an example of the type of audience which I am aiming my magazine at. His name is Matt, he spends his time listening to music (of most genres), socialising, and partying. He is currently at university, studying business. He shops anywhere can, but is very particular about how he looks and the way he dresses. He spends half of his money on socialising, the way he looks, drinking, magazine, trips out and about him but he also saves for things like his rent and food.  

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

Not with standing my comments about ethnic representation, I feel my magazine could be distributed in most newsagents and off licenses, especially the big ones such as WHSmith and little ones which are dotted around. I would like these to sell my magazine because they sell big, established magazines from every genre, such as men’s lifestyle, woman’s lifestyle, fashion, music, film, TV, hobbies fitness, science and many more. So my magazine would fit in well here because if would fit into the music genre.

I would like my magazine to also be sold in music shops such as HMV and other ones. My magazine would fit in well here because it is of the music genre and also it is all about music, what's hot and what’s not.

As well as stores, my magazine would be sold online or as a subscription. The magazine would have its own website online, for example www.chant.co.uk. Or however it could be found through the publisher’s website, such as NME magazine is owned by Time Warner Inc and can be purchased from either website. So if Chant was being made from a publishing company such as EMAP.

To begin with my magazine would start of small and probably be its out publisher and distributer, however it would grow and get larger, and move out into larger shops and bigger distributing places and a publisher may take it over.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are only two pictures on my front cover and the only social group which they represent are teenagers and young adults. This is represented by the age of the models which I use in both the pictures. They are both ages 17. I particularly did not single out a sub such as “emo” or “chav”, because I don’t have a specific audience of that type which I am trying to target.  I felt that such stereotypes automatically leads to narrow casting the audience at this age. Young people can have quite neclectic interests in music, so i wanted to keep my options open.  In the contents page it represents the same age group, the models are from aged 15 to 19. The double page spread represents the same age because the model I used was aged 17. However I am aware that the dominant representation is of the white ethnic group. This is because where I live on the Isle of Wight,  97% of the population is of white ethnicity.  Bizarly I have no black friends . Mixed ethnic  representations is a real issue for Island students. So this has contributed to the reason why all of my models are white. I have not done this on purpose and I understand it would be a lot more rounded and fair if I had a black model in there, I would work hard in my next issue to address this weakness.

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

The main focus on the background of my magazine's front cover is of the guitar. I have done this differenly to most magazines because the magazine industry chooses to have a person or people (I.E a singer or band,) on the front. It ensures that the focus of the reader is not distracted from the image, however it also lets the audience eye wonder around the page, to see the other content which is included in the magazine.

I challenged conventions of magaizne products by the main image, where it isn't people or a person. I have continued the colour red for my mast head and also for the font, from my preliminary task. The colour red compliments the picture and makes the colour of the guitar stand out more. Not many other magazines use red for their mast head or font, because it doesn't compliment or stand out against other colours, many more colours work better and most magazine industries choose to go for these because they are the simple way out of it. They tend to choose bolder brighter colours. I didn't want to follow this trend because, when my magazine is in the rack, the mast head will stand out more from all the rest of the magazines.

Further more, I have challenged forms and conventions of other magazines, because of where I put the price of my magazine. Normally, in the case of most magazines they have their price under or next to the date, which would be on the right hand side under the mast head, so that it still shows when the magazine is in the rack. I have kept this idea in mind, but changed it slightly. I have put the issue number under the mast head, where it normally is (I have kept this the same) however i have put the date and price under the mast head as well but on the left hand side. So all three are under the mast head. I have done this because when i put it where most do, it didn't fit that well and it didn't look great, so i moved it to where i have it now and I feel that it works. Even though it doesn't follow the conventions, it still had the same idea that when the magazine is in it's rack the reader can still see it.

In the end though I have kept to quite a minimalistic, unconventional approach, with some slight differences, (enough to make it look different.) Mostly I did my deconstructions and saw what the normal conventions were and tried adding some of them into my magazine.

My magazine is unique and different I hope. This is the feel which I was going for so it would catch its audience’s eye.

The new front cover

The new front cover, which my magazine is going to run with is :

Going Back to original.

As you can see in the last post I changed my ideas about my 1st page, of the double page spread. However debating and looking at it, I really don't like the new design of it. I feel it doesn't work, it doesn't look as good, and I just don't like the whole feel of it, it wasn't the type of look in which I was looking for. I think i'm going to go back to my original idea, I am happy with it and feel that it works. It's very bold and stands out.As well the picture, to me didn't look as clear as the one before. I thought that every part of it just blended into each other and nothing really stood out to me. In my opinion i found it looked quite dull and I really wasn't happy with it. I would never put that in a magazine, i found it the wrong choice. Just looking that the new edited picture it did nothing for me if i was someone reading the magazine, then i wouldn't of wanted to pick it up and read it, it doesn't entice people into the magazine.
I find it the weakest photo from them all, however when it was the first edited version I found it one of the strongest photos, and I quite liked it.
However the only problem is I can see where my teachers feedback is coming from and it is quite "powdered" and looks stretched, but in my opinion I think it adds to the effect of the photo. 

The photo in which I am going to use for the first page of my double page spread:

More feedback from teachers.

I had some more feedback from my teachers on how my magazine was coming along. I got some improvements to do. They main feedback for my front cover I got was that it looked to crowded, so this is my improved front cover.

The feedback which i got about my contents page was good, so no improvement needed there.

The feedback which I got about my 1st page of my double page spread was that the pictures looked as if it was stretched and looked powdery, so i have improved the picture and dont less editing to it, so that it looks more natural.

The feedback that I got for my 2nd page, of my double page spread was good, so i don't need to change anything there.

 

Final Second page spread.

Contents of Interview.

How did you get into music?

I have always like music, from a young age. I listened to it, and then my mum asked me if I wanted singing lessons, so I went and fell in love with singing. From then on singing became my passion.

What was the first CD that you ever brought?

I still remember it was S Club 7. How embarrassing! *Laughs* I always had a really bad taste in music and all my mates laughed at me for it. Know that I think back it was awful I just like the full cheese. Still to this day you give me a cheesy song and I will love it. How embarrassing!

Your new song is called For Zoey, why is this?

Well before I made this, one of my good mates Zoey sadly passed away and I wanted to do it in rememberence of her. She was one of my closest friends, and jokingly she has always wanted me to write and sings a song about her, so I knew she would love this. I mainly did this for my friends and her family so we could remember her, i never knew it would be such a hit!

That's lovely! Who did the backing track to the song?

That would be my amazing friend Jake. I've known him for years and he is amazing at music. I came to him with this idea and the lyrics in which I knew i wanted to use, and came up with some ideas for me. He is the one who played the drums, piano and guitar throughout the piece. We did it in his fantastic recording studio and we put it all together. I would like to thanks Jake so much, without him I wouldn't of been able to do this!

Final First Page

Final Contents Page

Final Front Cover

Second page of double page spread

The first draft of my Interview says :

How did you get into music?
I have always like music, from a young age. I listened to it, and then my mum asked me if I wanted singing lessons, so I went and fell in love with singing. From then on singing became my passion.

What was the first CD that you ever brought?
I still remember it was S Club 7. How embarrassing! *Laughs* I always had a really bad taste in music and all my mates laughed at me for it. Know that I think back it was awful I just like the full cheese. Still to this day you give me a cheesy song and I will love it. How embarrassing!

Your new song is called 'For you Zoey', why is this?
Well before I made this, one of my good mates Zoey sadly passed away and I wanted to do it in remembrance of her. She was one of my closest friends, and jokingly she has always wanted me to write and sings a song about her, so I knew she would love this. I mainly did this for my friends and her family so we could remember her, i never knew it would be such a hit!

That's lovely, who did the backing track to the song?
That would be my amazing friend Jake. I've known him for years and he is amazing at music. I came to him with this idea and the lyrics in which I knew i wanted to use, and came up with some ideas for me. He is the one who played the drums, piano and guitar throughout the piece. We did it in his fantastic recording studio and we put it all together. I would like to thanks Jake so much, without him I wouldn't of been able to do this!

There are some changes which need to be made to this, but it is nearly perfect, for what I had in mind.

Inside page of double page spread 1st draft

My first draft of my double page spread, page one.  There is only one thing which I want to change about this page, and that is the letters around Brogans head aren't exactly how I would like them to be. With them changed this page would be perfect. Aswell it doesn't have the page number on which is needed.

Contents page 1st draft

My frist draft of my magazines contents page.  I really like this. There are a couple of things which  would change with it, but on hole I like this. I love the title to this page, I think the white works against the background and the font is different.                

Front cover 1st draft

This is the new look for my front cover. I think i need to move some things around to make it look correct but this is the first draft to what it will look like. There are many things which i don't like about this. I don't like the words about Brogans interview, they don't stand out as much as i would have hoped. I also don't like how close the pictures are, it just doesn't work and give the correct feeling across to the audience.  I like the red for the masthead, however I don't feel as if it works for the other text on the front cover. I am really liking the main image and I feel it works well, for this type of magazine.

The new picture for my front cover

I have chosen this photo because you can tell that it's a guitar. This picture is better than the last one because you can see the main part of the guitar. I have done it from a better angle. I really like this photo and I feel that it will work with my magazine. I will slightly edit it to enhance it however that will be it.

Second Photo shoot

After i had my feedback from my teacher, I had to do another photo shoot for my main image.
This is the outcome of those pictures. Some of them I dont like, however i have the perfect shot for my front cover.

The feedback

I had started to create my magazine, when I asked for feedback from my teacher. At this stage my magazine looked like this.

The feedback in which I got from my teacher was, that the main image, wasn't very clear that it is a guitar. I guess I can see it is because I know it is, I was the one who took the picture but to someone else its unclear. So from this I either have to take anther picture or choose another one from the shoot. I think I am going to do another photoshoot because I like the idea of the picture, and how there isn't a face in it, how it focuses on the guitar and the hands playing it.

I will now have to do another photo shoot and change the main image.

My final picture

The picture in which I am going to use for my magazine, is this one.  The reason why i have chosen to use this photo is because I didn't want to have a band or a person on the front of my magazine. However i need it to look like a music magazine, so i chose this picture becuase you can see the guitar but not the person playing it. Although you no it is being played. 

My second idea and the photo shoot.

My second idea for my front cover, was to do either a person with a guitar or just the guitar, but from a different angle to normal.
I did a photo shoot with my friend Ellan and these are some of the photos in which came out of the shoot. I tried to go for the music look, so she is using my guitar.