In which ways does your media product use and challenge the typical conventions of a magazine?
In order for my magazine to be recognised as a indie rock music magazine by my target audience, I have ensure to follow particular conventions which apply to this genre of music magazines. However I have also ensure to challenge some of the typical indie rock music magazine conventions, in order to make my magazine unique and stand out from the many other magazines. To display which conventions I have used and which conventions I have challenged I have created three interactive presentations below on the website Prezi, for my front cover, contents page and double page spread.
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In order for my magazine to be recognised as a indie rock music magazine by my target audience, I have ensure to follow particular conventions which apply to this genre of music magazines. However I have also ensure to challenge some of the typical indie rock music magazine conventions, in order to make my magazine unique and stand out from the many other magazines. To display which conventions I have used and which conventions I have challenged I have created three interactive presentations below on the website Prezi, for my front cover, contents page and double page spread.
In which way does your media product represent a particular social group?
To display how I have represented a particular social group, I have compared the character represented within my magazine and a character represented in a mainstream magazine, in the form of singer Taylor Momsen. The individual displayed in the mainstream media magazine, represents the particular social group of indie rock teenagers. This social group, has become increasingly popular in the last few years, therefore I feel to appeal to my audience it would be best to portray this social group in my character.
The body language is very similar in both images. The posture appears very relaxed and casual, however with the addition of placing both hands on the waist area, this adds a bit of a edge and attitude to the image. A medium shot is used in both images, with a central eye level angle. This is effective as attitude is brought throughout the eyes, which projects to the eye contact made between the image and the audience. The costume, hair and make-up, is very similar in both images. Featuring very dark and smouldering eye make-up to create dramatic eye contact, a very dark and grungy costume and a dishevelled and tousled hair style, all of which are used to project the indie rock grungy genre of the magazine. Both images also appear to be taken in a studio area, with a plain background, which allows the dramatic imagery to stand out more. However the lighting used within my image appears darker with more contrast then in the mainstream image of Taylor, which appears to be more faded and whitewashed, with less contrast.
Much like artist featured in the mainstream magazine, Taylor Momsen, I would to promote the values and beliefs that girls can also be very talented musicians in the genre of indie rock, which is usually dominated by men. I would also like to promote the strong belief in that you can achieve anything if you try hard enough, much like the Taylor, who has become a musician at the very young age of 19. However in the media she is often criticised for being a bad influence on the genre of music my taking the 'edgyness' too far. Although I would like to still portray my character as a genuine typical teenager, I would also like my character to be a good role model to girls and display that girls do not necessarily need to swear and act too sexual to be successful.
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Which kind of media institution may distribute your media product and why?
To identify a media institution that would be likely to distribute my product, I first identified a product which was similar to mine, in the form of NME music magazine, which can be displayed below.
To identify a media institution that would be likely to distribute my product, I first identified a product which was similar to mine, in the form of NME music magazine, which can be displayed below.
As NME magazine is of a similar style and genre to my magazine, I feel those who distribute this magazine would be likely to distribute my own music magazine. Therefore the distribution company I have chosen is IPC Media, as they would know exactly where and how would be best to distribute my magazine, in order to gain a high popularity readership and sales revenue. IPC Media, is a magazine and digital publishing company in the UK, that is owned by Time Inc. and conglomerate of Time Warner.
I feel this company will the best for my magazine as 'IPC Media produces over 60 iconic media brands' which range from sports, to home and garden, to music. Therefore my magazine will fit comfortably amongst a range wide range of magazine genres to benefit the interests of everyone.
According to the IPC Media website 'Print alone reaching almost two thirds of UK women and 42% of UK men – almost 26 million UK adults – while our websites collectively reach over 20 million users every month’. Therefore I feel choosing this institution would allow my product to be in good hands and allow it to be distributed to my audience successfully. It could also increase purchases, through association with the 60 other magazine brands that IPC Media own, by advertisements, which could also bring in a wider audience.
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Who would you define as the target audience for your magazine?
To allow my magazine to attract and appeal to the target audience in which I will be marketing my magazine towards, I made sure to understand both their interests and their lifestyle in order to cater my magazine to be interesting and suitable for them. Before identifying my overall target audience, I produced a basic review and profile on a typical audience member, who enjoyed reading the genre of music magazine I had created, indie rock.
The specific audience member I had chosen was Nikki (displayed in the photo above), who is of 18 years of age and a full time student at college. In order to give me a basic understanding of the type of audience who would be likely to purchase and enjoy reading my magazine, I interviewed Nikki to find out more about her interests. She enjoyed socialising with friends and hanging out with them on a regular basis. She also enjoyed listening to a range of music specifically in the indie and rock genre and sub-genres and often attended gigs and concerts, which included both a range of high profile and independent local bands. She also had a large interest in fashion and shopping, particularly in clothing which was highly influenced by her favourite music genres indie and rock.
After gaining a basic understanding of the type of audience I will be aiming my magazine towards, I was able to determine by specific target audience (displayed in the image above), who I would define as those of both a male and female gender, between the ages of 16 to 25 and often are in college/university or have a part time job. To allow me to understand how I will appeal to my target though my magazine, I created a questionnaire on Google Docs, which can be displayed below.
Below are the answers given by a sample of my target audience members:To allow my magazine to attract and appeal to the target audience in which I will be marketing my magazine towards, I made sure to understand both their interests and their lifestyle in order to cater my magazine to be interesting and suitable for them. Before identifying my overall target audience, I produced a basic review and profile on a typical audience member, who enjoyed reading the genre of music magazine I had created, indie rock.
From the answers provided we can see that my target audience mainly enjoy listening to indie and rock music, with outside influences from r'n'b and pop too. They regularly enjoy going out with their friends and spend the majority of their money on clothing and concert/gig tickets. They are mainly of a working class background and attend college as students. They enjoy comedy films, and their favourite TV shoes mainly consist of programmes such as The Inbetweeners, Skins, Misfits and Family Guy. They also enjoy shopping at mainly high street clothing stores such as H&M, Top Man & Top Shop and River Island.
To ensure I knew that I had appealed to my target audience successfully, I conducted a small discussion group, of which my audience discussed what attracted them to my magazine and if they would purchase it, of which I recorded on a hand held camera. This was attended to be posted as support of my audience feedback on my blog and in my evaluation, however unfortunatly there was many technical issues, in that the video would not upload onto my blog or any other social networking websites such as Facebook or you tube, in which I could have posted the link. Therefore I have placed my peer audience feedback on a disk which can be previewed along with the printed version of my magazine.
I also asked my audience to note down whether they would purchase my magazine and why, to identify if I needed to make any last minute changes. One of theses pieces of feedback can be displayed below.
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How did you ensure to attract and address your audience, through your magazine?
After producing my target audience research I had a better understanding of the lives and interests and what appeals them to a magazine. This allowed me to attract my audience in a number of ways, which can be displayed in the video below.
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After producing my target audience research I had a better understanding of the lives and interests and what appeals them to a magazine. This allowed me to attract my audience in a number of ways, which can be displayed in the video below.
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What have you learnt about new technologies and software, from the process of constructing your magazine?
When designing and creating my music magazine, I have used various forms of technology and software to help me through the whole production process, each of which can be displayed in the collage below which I created on Picnik.
The pieces of hardware I used within my production process were a Digital SLR Camera and my laptop computer. My computer was very important in the production process, as it gave me access to all the software I needed to design, create and edit my magazine. It also gave me access to the internet, which allowed me to find and use many websites which I had never used before. These include Blogger to create my production blog, Deviant Art to gain feedback and Prezi to create interactive presentations.
To take the photographs for my magazine, I used a SLR camera in the form of the FUJIFILM Fine Pix S2750HD Digital Camera. I used this particular camera, as i wanted my photos to look as high quality as possible in order to ensure my magazine looked professional. This was the first time I had used a SLR camera, therefore I wasn’t very familiar on how to use it. To help me use the camera correctly I visited the two following two websites Facethelight and DSLtips. This allowed me to learn many techniques and tips, which allowed me to take high quality photographs for my magazine, which I am very pleased with. As I have purchased a SLR camera for my own personal use, this process also helped me to learn many techniques and tips which I could use when taking photographs within my own time.
To both edit my photographs and design my overall music magazine pages, I used the popular digital and editing software, Photoshop CS5. As I have previously used this piece of software before, I felt at ease with the using software and had knowledge of the many techniques I could use. However when it came to editing my photographs, I wanted to ensure the contrast was high and that appeared shadowy and grungy, something I had not done before. Therefore I learnt how to use a variety of layer and brush combinations and techniques.
To display each stage of my research, planning and production of my magazine, I have used the popular blog publishing website Blogger. This is the first time I have ever used this website or a web blogging platform overall, however I was very pleased with how helpful this website was, when creating my magazine. When I first began to use Blogger, I was a bit confused with how to create and publish each post to blog; however after visiting various help pages and tutorials, I quickly learnt how to use the site with ease. I am very happy that I chose to use Blogger when creating my magazine, as I felt it was much easier than if I were to use the file portfolio method. The website allowed me to have all my research in one place, which was much easier to find if I had amendments which I need to change. It also allowed me to document every part of my process, even those that were minimal, such as simply changing the font on my magazine page or finding a photo shoot image which I would like to replicate on my magazine. After learning the basics of simply creating posts, I then learnt how could insert evidence into each post in many forms including, photos, videos and audio. This was extremely helpful as it allowed me to display all parts of research, planning and production which contribute to my overall product, for example, photo shoot photographs and inspirations for my magazine and photo shoot. Therefore I can display which aspects of my production went well and which aspects went not so well and needed amendments, with evidence.
To gain feedback for my magazine I used a popular art sharing website called Deviant Art, which I had never used before. Although this was not my primary source for audience feedback, I used this website to display my product to audiences worldwide, to gain a small amount of feedback, which without these websites would require me to pay a producer or publisher to promote it.
Other website which were, Prezi, which allowed me to create interactive presentations when evaluating my final magazine product. Google Docs, which allowed me to create an interactive on-line questionnaire, to gain information about my target audience and feedback on my magazine. The last website I used was Swimchick, a tutorial blog, which provided me with the tutorials to create a grungy and dramatic effect on my magazine photographs.
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When designing and creating my music magazine, I have used various forms of technology and software to help me through the whole production process, each of which can be displayed in the collage below which I created on Picnik.
To take the photographs for my magazine, I used a SLR camera in the form of the FUJIFILM Fine Pix S2750HD Digital Camera. I used this particular camera, as i wanted my photos to look as high quality as possible in order to ensure my magazine looked professional. This was the first time I had used a SLR camera, therefore I wasn’t very familiar on how to use it. To help me use the camera correctly I visited the two following two websites Facethelight and DSLtips. This allowed me to learn many techniques and tips, which allowed me to take high quality photographs for my magazine, which I am very pleased with. As I have purchased a SLR camera for my own personal use, this process also helped me to learn many techniques and tips which I could use when taking photographs within my own time.
To both edit my photographs and design my overall music magazine pages, I used the popular digital and editing software, Photoshop CS5. As I have previously used this piece of software before, I felt at ease with the using software and had knowledge of the many techniques I could use. However when it came to editing my photographs, I wanted to ensure the contrast was high and that appeared shadowy and grungy, something I had not done before. Therefore I learnt how to use a variety of layer and brush combinations and techniques.
To display each stage of my research, planning and production of my magazine, I have used the popular blog publishing website Blogger. This is the first time I have ever used this website or a web blogging platform overall, however I was very pleased with how helpful this website was, when creating my magazine. When I first began to use Blogger, I was a bit confused with how to create and publish each post to blog; however after visiting various help pages and tutorials, I quickly learnt how to use the site with ease. I am very happy that I chose to use Blogger when creating my magazine, as I felt it was much easier than if I were to use the file portfolio method. The website allowed me to have all my research in one place, which was much easier to find if I had amendments which I need to change. It also allowed me to document every part of my process, even those that were minimal, such as simply changing the font on my magazine page or finding a photo shoot image which I would like to replicate on my magazine. After learning the basics of simply creating posts, I then learnt how could insert evidence into each post in many forms including, photos, videos and audio. This was extremely helpful as it allowed me to display all parts of research, planning and production which contribute to my overall product, for example, photo shoot photographs and inspirations for my magazine and photo shoot. Therefore I can display which aspects of my production went well and which aspects went not so well and needed amendments, with evidence.
To gain feedback for my magazine I used a popular art sharing website called Deviant Art, which I had never used before. Although this was not my primary source for audience feedback, I used this website to display my product to audiences worldwide, to gain a small amount of feedback, which without these websites would require me to pay a producer or publisher to promote it.
Other website which were, Prezi, which allowed me to create interactive presentations when evaluating my final magazine product. Google Docs, which allowed me to create an interactive on-line questionnaire, to gain information about my target audience and feedback on my magazine. The last website I used was Swimchick, a tutorial blog, which provided me with the tutorials to create a grungy and dramatic effect on my magazine photographs.
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In which way do you feel you have progressed from the preliminary task up to your final product?
How do you feel about your final product overall?
Overall I am very pleased with how my magazine has turned out. I feel I have created my magazine to a high professional standard, that would sell well in stores. I feel I have followed the conventions well, which will allow my magazine to be well recognised as a indie-rock magazine to my audience and amongst other magazine. Furthermore I also feel I have a good knowledge on my target audience and will be able to attract and appeal to them successfully, in order for them too purchase the magazine.
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What have you learned from this experience that might help you, if you were to create a similar product in the future?
If I were to design and create a music magazine in future productions, I feel I have learnt quite a lot from my findings in the feedback from this music magazine, using new technologies and the whole production process and would be able to produce a good magazine. I understand how each page must include a sufficient proportion of both text and images, in order to keep the readers interest and ensure the magazine does not contain too many pictures and appears busy or contains too much text and appears boring and too formal. I am also aware of how the colour scheme should follow the conventional colours for the music genre you will be portraying within your magazine, in order to allow readers and your target audience to associate it with that genre and recognise it if it were to be sold in-store. I am aware of the techniques and process I can use within Photoshop in order to create a professional looking magazine and I am also aware of the many effects I can apply to my photographs in order to achieve my desired effect. However if I were to produce a magazine in future, I feel I would take a different approach to the photographs used, in that I would like to find a photography studio space in which I could take my photographs, which would allow them to look more professional. I also feel having a greater use of props, would also be more stylistic and allow me to tie my photographs in with the genre and theme of my magazine.
From my preliminary task, which I produced before beginning my music magazine as a college magazine, I feel I have progressed greatly in my understanding of creating and designing a magazine. This can be displayed in the slide shows below, which I created on the website Prezi, which show the progression through the use of image, fonts, colour, text and layout within both my preliminary task college magazine and my final product music magazine.
Preliminary Task Layout Progression on Prezi
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Overall I am very pleased with how my magazine has turned out. I feel I have created my magazine to a high professional standard, that would sell well in stores. I feel I have followed the conventions well, which will allow my magazine to be well recognised as a indie-rock magazine to my audience and amongst other magazine. Furthermore I also feel I have a good knowledge on my target audience and will be able to attract and appeal to them successfully, in order for them too purchase the magazine.
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What have you learned from this experience that might help you, if you were to create a similar product in the future?
If I were to design and create a music magazine in future productions, I feel I have learnt quite a lot from my findings in the feedback from this music magazine, using new technologies and the whole production process and would be able to produce a good magazine. I understand how each page must include a sufficient proportion of both text and images, in order to keep the readers interest and ensure the magazine does not contain too many pictures and appears busy or contains too much text and appears boring and too formal. I am also aware of how the colour scheme should follow the conventional colours for the music genre you will be portraying within your magazine, in order to allow readers and your target audience to associate it with that genre and recognise it if it were to be sold in-store. I am aware of the techniques and process I can use within Photoshop in order to create a professional looking magazine and I am also aware of the many effects I can apply to my photographs in order to achieve my desired effect. However if I were to produce a magazine in future, I feel I would take a different approach to the photographs used, in that I would like to find a photography studio space in which I could take my photographs, which would allow them to look more professional. I also feel having a greater use of props, would also be more stylistic and allow me to tie my photographs in with the genre and theme of my magazine.
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