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

When i first created my preliminary task i had never tried creating a magazine on pages before so i was only using the very basic tools on Pages. I imported a picture as my background and inserted a text box as the title. Comparing what i was like then, to now has made me realise how much my technical ability has improved and how much i have actually learnt throughout this process. By looking at my school magazine you can immediately see my lack on knowledge in they way a front cover should be Laid out as well as it being boring and not very attractive from an audiences point of veiw. I have also learnt that you don't have to give away a lot on the front cover to attract an audience, by adding exciting fonts and an eye-catching image you will easily catch anyones attention. On my school magazine i didn't involve a bar code or price so by researching different magazine labels i had more knowledge to help me make mine look as professional as possible. Overall I am proud of the progress i have made and the skills i have picked up along the way. 

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

Throughout my process of constructing my music magazine i have discovered many new technologies and have had to learn how to use them along the way. I found this exciting especially when we were learning how to do new things on the Macs, I already had my own Mac laptop so to my advantage I could practice and get quicker at using them at home. I think the good thing about producing my work on a Mac is the applications you can use to make the quality of your magazine better. For example IPhoto. 

IPhoto is a quick way of editing your photos at a high quality. It allowed me to make my images look as professional as possible and edit them so they all had the same lighting level so none looked out of place. The background of my magazine was also imported into Iphoto so i could make it look slightly more colourful. 

Instead of using Photoshop i decided to create my magazine on Pages. I was already familiar with this software but had only ever used it for written purposes. I learnt how to import your own photo and use it as a background. I also learnt how to make the images 'float' so you could place them anywhere you want on the page. I found it quick and easy to use.

Before i started my Media AS course i had never used Blogger before. However i did have my own blog on Tumblr so knew roughly how they work. It was interesting comparing the two and how they work differently. 

I used this wedbsite to import more interesting fonts onto my laptop to use in my magazine. I never knew this website existed before doing this project so im excited to use it in the future as well. This website also inspired me on the style of my magazine by looking at what fonts could emphasise the 'urban' look.

Who would be the audience for your media product? How did you attract/address your audience?

I wanted to aim my magazine at young adults aged between 16-30. I feel this age is appropriate for the style of my magazine and genre of music that it is based on. When designing the layout of my magazine i wanted to make sure it wasn't boring and would attract my audience. I did this by the use of different fonts and how they were positioned to make my magazine stand out. I also used a young adult as my model for the new upcoming artist in my magazine. I feel this was appropriate because my audience would want to read about people of a similar age to them so they can relate to the magazine. I approached various young adults around my sixth form as well as out side of school with my magazine draft to get varied feedback about my magazine so far. I asked them what the thought worked well and what i could improve on to attract my specified audience even more. This is one of the ways i made sure my magazines appearance would contribute to attracting my audience as well as comparing different music magazines and what they did to attract their audiences.

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

I researched two well known media magazine institutions to help me gain knowledge on what type of company i would like to distribute my magazine.. 

National Magazine company- The National Magazine Company publishes 19 magazines in total in the UK. Their main magazines are: Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Country living, Harpers Bazaar, Mens Health, Runners World and House beautiful. From these i can tell that the majority of their magazines are aimed at adults and are Lifestyle Magazines. 

IPC MEDIA- IPC media publish NME magazine which is a music magazine targeted at a young audience. They produce over 60 iconic media brands, including their printed magazines they manage to reach to almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men. I think this institution suits my magazine better as they have previous experience working with a magazine interested in the same audience and genre as me. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I believe my magazine is aimed at young people who have an interest in Hip Hop/R&B music. The age range is between 16-30. This is represented through the colour scheme and people featured in my magazine, such as the Upcoming Artist where i also used a young adult. I feel that my magazines interesting layout will attract a younger audience as well. The kind of people that would be interested in buying my magazine would be the type to watch urban music channels such as 4Music and MTV. It is likely that they would be regular users of the ITunes store to download new music. Woman are also represented strongly in my magazine. All the images i have taken and featured in my magazine are of a woman, however there are a couple of album covers on my contents page of a male artist. I think even though my magazine is for both genders you would link it more with woman, this is also shown through the subjects we talk about, such as 'Exclusive Fashion Tips' and 'Up close and personal with Jay-Z' where we discuss his and Beyonce's baby. These are topics that genuinely woman would be more interested in. I think in this sense, my magazine is more a-like NME music magazine. This is because even though its audience is men and woman, it still has a more 'male' feel to it.

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

Throughout my coursework i have referred back to real media products such as VIBE magazine, Rolling stone, SPIN and WILDFOX. However i think the most influential magazine for me was VIBE, this is because it is a popular music magazine aimed at a young audience which concentrates on new music, this is what i wanted to portray in my work. VIBES striking front covers have inspired me on how i have positioned my images and texts. However i wanted to develop my magazines text layout even more so started looking at different front covers which is when i came across SPIN magazine. This magazine gave me the idea of placing my text both horizontally and vertically on the page.

Evaluation

I will discuss and reflect on my process in creating my music magazine and what i feel learnt through this experience.

Front Cover

The feature i love about my front cover the most is the image i have used. I have never changed this because i think its striking and bold which will catch my audiences attention. I kept a thin font for my title because i didn't want it to make my page look to over powering. There wasn't alot to change about my front cover because i have always wanted it to stay looking simple which is what i feel i have achieved in the final outcome. 

Contents

This is my favourite page of my magazine. I love how professional it has turned out and am proud of the progress i have made. I took on board what Phil said about explaining why the images of different artists are placed at the bottom of the page by adding in a bit of text above them. I also edited my titles for each page to make sure they were all the same length which i think has presented them better. 

Double Page Spread

This is my final Double Page Spread. I have taken on all the comments from various young adults who i have asked about my magazine as well as keeping in mind the advice i had from a professional. I combined these ideas and added to this page to improve my magazine as much as possible. I enlightened the background and changed the layout of the text. I also have changed the photo i have used to make this page look more interesting. I wanted to make sure i added an advertisement on this page for our website so added that in at the bottom of the right hand side. Along with other minor changes i feel i have improved my magazine as much as possible to make it appropriate for my target audience as well as looking fun and attractive. 

Feedback and Tips from Phillip Chamberlin

Phil is a professional magazine editor/creator who i was honoured to meet and receive feedback from on my music magazine. We went through each page (contents, front cover and double page spread) one by one and discussed what worked well and what i could do to improve. 

Front cover comments:

He loved how i had created my own background for the whole of this magazine and it helps link the front cover to the other pages. He also said it was risky to use a thin font for my title as it could easily be over powered which is one of the things i considered when choosing this font, however he said it works well and adds to my magazines 'simple look'. He advised me to make the font for "TOP 10 R&B HITS THIS YEAR" the same as "EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW" to stop my magazine from looking so busy and said it would look more professional if i cut down the amount of different fonts i used. He also said i could bring up the image of my model a little higher so the top of her head was underneath the title slightly so that area didn't look so plain. 

Contents comments:

Phil suggested i added more pages to my magazine so it has more content which i agree on after looking at other magazine contents pages. He also discussed the idea of making the titles for my pages on the contents all the same length as this would make the page look more organised. I had to explain why the strip of photos at the bottom of my contents page were there, and this gave us the idea of writing above them something along the lines of "previous artist's that have featured in DOMINO. Go to www.dominonline.com to get hold of the issues you missed" which would inform the readers the purpose of them being there. However he said he loved my contents page and thought it looked very professional and likes how i have placed my image so half of it cuts through the O in "Contents". 

Double Page Spread comments: 

Phil liked the layout of my Double Page Spread but advised that i used a slightly different image on the left hand side of the page. This is because my model is doing a similar pose for each photo so to make my magazine look more interesting i am going to select a different image to use. He also thought it would be a good idea to create two columns on that page to break the text up a little. He mentioned how it would be a good idea to fill in the 'O' of "UPCOMING ARTISTS" like i have done on the front cover for "DOMINO" which would be another way of linking the two pages together. Im going to lighten up the background of this page so my text doesn't disappear into the background and also switch over the text font so that my interview questions are in bold and the answers are normal. 

I am going to use all this feedback to help me improve my magazine as much as possible. 

Double page spread- Draft

Here is the draft of my Double page spread. I used the same background as my contents page, linking both pages well. I chose these two photos of my artist because i think they look exciting and bold and stop my spread from looking boring as it involves a lot of text. I used the "reflection" and "shadow" effect on both of these images to make them look more 3D. I wanted to use the same effect as i did on my front cover with some text facing a different direction to the rest. I thought it would work nicely to place my artists name up the side of the photo of her. I also decided to involve a short description of her outfit under this image as my target audience is young adults (mostly women) and i think this is something that interests a audience of this gender and age. I also decided to break up my page by involving the "Top 10 Charts" of that month, this makes my magazine relevant to the music industry today as i have used recent music. From my own knowledge on the presentation of magazines i know that they usually quote something interesting about the artist and make it stand out from the rest of the text. I decided to use this idea in my own magazine, as i know when i use to read about an artist the quote would make me want to find out more. I think i have achieved the same 'simple' look throughout this spread and love the colour tones.

Contents Page- Draft

Here is my contents page, i wanted my whole magazine to link well so decided to take a photo of a wall in my house and edit it to look effective as the background for my magazine contents page and double page spread. Using iPhoto i faded the colour of my wall creating a 'cool' tone. I then imported it into pages along with my chosen photo of my artist. I love how the title "Contents" runs over part of this image. I also imported images of recent R&B CD covers for famous artists that have previously featured in my magazine. This is also the type of music genre that my magazine works for so links well. I like how simple my contents page looks but is packed with detailed information on what is within the magazine. I tried to use relevant stories that are in the media at the moment to make it look more realistic and professional.

Front Cover- Draft

This is my draft front cover. I wanted to use a close up shot of my artist facing directly at the camera. I took this image, edited it using IPhoto and then imported it into pages. I then placed my text on top of it making the cover look more interesting with different layers. I definitely love the idea of placing my text in different positions rather than it all crossing the page horizontally. I think this has avoided my front cover from looking boring and will attract my audience into reading more. I inserted a black filled text box as the background where i present my artists name "Alice Kenz". This has made the text stand out from the rest of the page but doesn't over power the title as i have used a thin subtle font. However after showing this draft to different young adults i have received some useful feed back on how to improve my front cover. 

"Make part of the artists name bolder as i feel it looks to similar to the title "

"fill the blank space in the top right hand corner"

I also received some positive comments on what they thought worked well...

"I love how simple it is, i hate it when magazines fill their front cover with loads of writing."

"I like how you have filled the 'O' in your title, it looks very professional."

"The photo you have taken and used for the front cover looks striking and eye catching!" 

The price of my Magazine

I researched the prices of other music magazines...
Q £3.99 -Monthly magazine
NME £2.20 - Weekly magazine
VIBE $4.99 (roughly £3.30) - Monthly magazine
Comparing these has given me a rough idea of how much i want to charge my audience. Seen as mine is going to be issued monthly and wouldn't be as famous as these major music magazines i have chosen to price it at £3.00 so its slightly cheaper. Also if im targeting my magazine at a younger audience it is most likely that the majority will be students, therefore there is a bigger chance of them buying my magazine if it is cheaper.

http://www.dafont.com/ 

I have been using this website to download different fonts. Its handy because you can choose a font that matches the style of your magazine. The ones i downloaded were called...

• Learchitect 
• neou 
• ART POST
• STENCILIA-A
• Dymofontinvers 

I thought these suited the style of my magazine the best and would make it look more interesting.

FRONT COVER

I decided to create two flat plan designs for my front cover and then use the one i think looks more professional.  Design no.1 is very basic. The title is simple and doesn't distract the audience from the Artist on the Front cover. I liked the idea of my text being placed around the image in different directions and sizes. This makes it look more interesting and will attract my audience into reading about whats inside my magazine. Design no.2 is very similar, however i changed the style of my title to something that stands out more on the page. The black and white effect links with the 'DOMINO' title. Although i think i prefer Design no.1's title because it isn't as distracting and i like how simple it is, it also makes my magazine look more professional. I therefore think im going to base my magazines layout on Design no1. 

CONTENTS PAGE

This is my basic flat plan of my contents page. I wanted to use the same font for the title "CONTENTS" as i did on my front covers title to link both pages. I liked the idea of featuring another image of my artist on this page to show that she is our main topic for this issue. However i also want to feature some other images on my contents page to make it look more exciting but haven't decided what yet. 

Magazine FLAT PLANS

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD 

I liked the idea of my title coming across both pages on my double page spread. This page is going to involve an interview with the artist (Alice Kenz), a short description about her style of music and the Top 10 charts for that month. I think it is important to still feature images in your double page spread so it doesn't look boring, so i have decided to use two from my photo-shoot. Also, i have decided to place the 'Top 10 charts' at the bottom of a page as this isn't the main feature. 

The title of my magazine

I wanted to think of a title for my magazine that linked to my inspiration (Jessie-J) but also was catchy and bold. One of her current songs is called 'Domino'. I like how it doesn't sound like a typical name for a magazine but is still very simple. The word 'Domino' also represents the game that you play with black and white blocks. This would link well with the colour scheme of my magazine as all my writing is mostly going to be in black and white.

This is the music video for the song 'Domino' which has been my inspiration for the name of my magazine.

I questioned different people on what they thought of 'DOMINO' as a magazine name. Here is some of the feed back I received...

Anna "It's easily identified and striking"

Ellie "It's eye catching so people will notice is on the shelfs"

Jess "The name is intriguing and makes you want to read whats inside."

Sam "It's original and no other magazine has a name like it."

Matt "It's classy and bold."

Music Magazine research and comparisons...

Key Facts For NME mag         

Price                 £2.20

Frequency         Weekly 

Circulation   56,284 

Readership 411,000

Launch Date 1952 

Male                 73% 

Female              27% 

Average Age  25

ABC1          73% 

Key Facts For VIBE mag

Price              $4.99

Frequency       Monthly 

Launch Date    1993

Men                55%

Women           45%

18-24              35%

18-34              67%

21+                 82%

35+                 29%

Average age    30

This research has given me further knowledge on music magazine prices and the type of audience I will be attracting. I picked two very popular magazines which both show that young adults are interested the most in the music magazine industry. The figures also prove that men are reading them more than the female population. This has motivated me to attract more women for a change and target my magazine towards young women. I think this will easily be done as im using a female model as my music artist and can interview her about her lifestyle and home life as well as her music because this is what women are mostly interested in. 

How women are represented in the Media industry

During our in class research sessions we listened to a podcast which discussed why women are so under-represented in the media industry. One of the reasons why are the long hours which leads to women having to leave their jobs in order to have children or look after a family. These statistics support this statement... 

• 72% Of the question time contributors are men 
• 78% Of news articles are written by men
• 84% Of radio reporters and guests on radio 4’s ‘today show’ are men
• Less than 10% of sport journalists are women
• Less than 5% of sport coverage are done by women 

Editing The pictures

I took a screen shot of me using IPhoto to edit one of my photos for the magaziene. As you can see i turned the temperature of my image down to give the colour a faded effect. I have decided i only want the text in my magazine to be bright and bold and then the images to be either black and white or not very colourful. I think this will make it look new and interesting compared to other magazines. I also think it will make the magazine look classier.

Photoshoot for music magazine

These are 3 of my best pictures from the photo-shoot i did with Alice for my music magazine, using Jessie J as an inspiration. I wanted to keep the pictures simple but will be editing them more to match my magazines theme.  I created a Flickr account to present the rest of my photo shoot on...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/75842946@N08/ 

I think this picture is very expressive and will make my magazine look exciting. The style of music that my artist plays is loud pop/hip hop which is full of energy and i think she has portrayed this well in this image.

I love how simple this photo is., Her lips make the image look striking and interesting but its still a very basic picture of her. I would love to use this photo as my front cover image as it wont be too distracting next to the title and text. Im going to start experimenting with fonts and layouts on this image to see if it works well.











I wanted to experiment with using the "Black and White" effect on my camera. I then edited this image using IPhoto on my mac, by turning up the contrast it made the photo look bold and different to the rest of my images. I like the effect this made and may consider doing my whole magazine in black and white.





   

Layouts

   
I like the layout of this front cover as its interesting and bold. The title stands out as the background is bright red where as the rest of the magazine is in black and white apart from the photo of 'Florence and the Machine'. I also like how the name of the artist is bolder than the rest of the text which makes it clear who is being featured. I have noticed that all of the writing has a filled background in either black or white.














This is a fashion magazine for the brand WILDFOX COUTURE. I liked the look of this magazine because its very basic. The have used the same font for all the text which adds to the simple look. I like how the only colourful part of this front cover is the photograph of the girl. I would defiantly like to use this idea on my own magazine.
















I chose this magazine for another layout example because the way the writing was presented immediately interested me. I love how the text is presented in different sizes and facing different directions. I think this has made the front cover look more exciting and would defiantly attract a browsers attention.

Jessie J

After brainstorming ideas about the style of music, target audience and image i would like to create in my music magazine i started to research artists that interest me. Jessie J is an urban music artist with a young audience, I like her style and the way she is presented in magazines. I will be using her as an inspiration in my music magazine.  Each of these images i think are good examples of her bold character, i would love to reflect my artists character in the photo's i take of her myself. I also like how simple they are; the background is plain but the clothing is bright and exciting. 

MUSIC MAGAZINE RESEARCH

For my final piece our task is to create a front cover, contents page and double page spread for a music magazine. I will be researching current magazines that inspire me and will give me a rough idea of what i would like my magazine to look like. 

'VIBE' is an american magazine aimed at a young audience. I think this is reflected through their front covers. They always use colours that look bold and bright against each other which i think works really well. The style of this magazine is very simple with not a lot of text and there is always just one artist or band in the centre of the front cover. I like how they highlight each artist names which attracts even more attention to them. 

'Rolling Stones' Magazine covers.

Both of these front covers are bright and interesting. I like the colouring used in the "lil wayne" issue. The dark background contrasts with the yellow title. I also like how all the text is on one side of the page. This makes it look more simple. On both magazines the same text font is used through out. I like how the text overlaps the image in the 'Katy Perry' issue but the image of her still covers the Rolling stones title. The colouring in this issue almost reflects the artists character, i.e. Katy perry is very girly so blues and pinks have been used. 

Preliminary Task Evaluation

The Preliminary task gave me the opportunity to expand my knowledge within the magazine industry. I learnt how to analyse a front cover and adapt good features to my own magazine and also how to use pages to create this. This task has introduced me to this area of media and helped me develop skills that i can hopefully improve when creating my music magazine.

Front cover

This is my front cover to my school magazine that i had to produce for my preliminary task. Considering this was my first time using pages i am proud of my final out come. I decided to use the font "Academy Engraved LET"as i thought it looked professional and simple. I then used a less distracting font for my text so i didn't distract my audience away from the positive background. I asked my peers for some constructive criticism and positive points about my front cover to help me think about what i could improve on when creating my music magazine. Alice said i could use a more interesting font to make my front cover look more appealing. However she loved the colourful background.

Photo shoot for school magazine

This is the photo shoot i did for my school magazine...