Evaluation : Strenghts and weaknesses

Strengths:

Font cover

‘My audience like the colour scheme that i have used for the cover-lines they said it stood out. The bold of the text made it clear. Also i received good feedbacks for the front cover from the audience as they said that the colours scheme was effective. The colour of the ‘text worked well with the colours on the page’ they also said that it linked with the other stuff on the page. My audience also liked the layout of the page ‘cover-line was layered in a way that it could standout which made the magazine have a professional look’.

Contents page

‘The contents page looks very professional and as a whole it looks clear and understandable also you have kept the realism which made it made the contents page have a positive effect. Also they way your presented your text image style of layer out had made the contents page have a catchy feeling for us to look at and made it interesting to look at’. Also some of my audiences said ‘the colour on the numbers on the page had a positive effectiveness and made the page look more professional.

Double Page Spread

‘Firstly the image use is well chosen and has a huge positive effect on the page, the text layout and the number is well layered on the page. The colour scheme on the page is amazing and it looks real professional’.

Weaknesses:

Front Cover

‘The front page looks well; however there is simply mistakes made, which is the text box and the text on it needs to be fixed and be lined together well, same applies to the cover – lines as well they need to be straight and the same line . The bad editing of behind the models can clearly be seen which will make the magazine look cheap and not professional.’

Contents Page

‘The contents page was well done, but the image of the front cover does not link with the final one. Also there is lack of images on the contents page which made it all text based and made it boring.’

Double Page

‘overall the page is done well and does not have much weakness only the layout of the text could of been done better.’

QUESTION 7: LOOKING BACK AT THE PRELIMINARY TASK WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAS LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT TO A FULL PRODUCT?

From the beginning of course I have learnt how to use adobe Photoshop more effectively and also to improve my skills on my works. Also as preliminary work I have first started with making a college magazine front cover and contents page to get me used to Photoshop.

I have cope with the task well and I have organised and schedule my self to use the time.  The mains tool I have learnt is a quick mask; I have learnt this tool for selecting the models and editing some bits of the image.  This quick mask skill has helped me in my Photoshop skill. However in my preliminary task I was not able to use the quick mask. The quick mask, i first select a colour which is different from the other colour and then brush the brush tool and then press the letter Q on the keyboard and start selecting the part of the image i want to. It is a simple process but it makes huge effect on the image and makes it look professional.

Also, at the beginning the first task was to create the front cover and the contents but there was still more to do like double page spread. For my full product i had to learn how to organise the layers and name them appropriate to know what I’m working on.

Throughout my preliminary work and to my final work i have learnt how to attract target audiences by searching what audience likes what. Also i learnt how organise and focus bit by bit to produce my product to the best ability i could. one of the advantages i had when i was creating my music magazine was that my friends and people around me loved ‘POP’ music and my music magazine genre was ‘POP’ which this had a huge positive effect when i was doing my audience research. Which this meant that i knew who i was targeting act and who to search for.

Lastly but not least i also learnt how to use the Canon E05 400D camera. i have learnt how to hold how to take the shots with good quality ,which this had a positive effect on my final work as well.

QUESTION 6: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNT ABOUT TECHNOLOGIES FROM THE PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTING THIS PRODUCT?

I have learnt much stuff from processing my music magazine. I have used the software Adobe Photoshop cs3 to create my music magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread.  I have used this software program because it is a program to do lots of photography and creativity. I had some knowledge of the tools in the software and also how to create magazines.When I was using adobe Photoshop, the main tool I used was the selection tools and the brush tool. I have used the brush tool to use for quick mask selection while I was trying toe edit the image and make it look professional. I also did not want the image or the front cover to look too much made or worked on, I wanted to leave the photography as original as possible.
Firstly with Photoshop you could do so many things to make create your magazine , but i learnt to keep stuff simple and not make it complex to my self whiles creating my magazine. Photoshop , mainly i used the text fonts and layout settings in Photoshop i did not want to use much of the  selection tools because if i used it on my image it would of create an unprofessional look for my magazine so i kept it simply and just played around with the fonts and a little on image edit to give that professional studio effect. A fantastic thing on Photoshop is you can find any color tone you want for your text which this made me link it to the color theme of the image. 

To take the images I used a Canon E0S 400D camera which is a professional camera. I have learnt to take the images in certain angles and shot as many professional magazines do. I have used some light ‘flash’ to make the image shot clear and it was easy for me to increase the brightness of the image when I used the flash it balance the room light and also made me take good quality images.Also I used the spot healing tool to take out the spots form my models and also to fix up little bits that would have made the image look bad. I also learnt to save file that I was working on as psd so I could re open it when I wanted to work on it, and when I had finish everything I saved it as Jpeg which is a photo file. For my front page, contents page and double page spread I have used the stroke tool to make my text stand out and clear. With the stroke tool you can do many things with the text/text box.

QUESTION 5: HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOU AUDIENCE?

Using my audience research from before I have outlined my guideline, I have chosen to attract my target audience in different ways. Firstly I attracted my target audience is through front cover of my music magazine. Which the models have a crucial effect for me attracting my audience. My models are females and teenagers aged 16-17 and both pop music lovers. I have chosen these models because they appeal to my target audience although I am aiming at both genders I have decided to use two female models to attract audiences.

The type of language text I have used for my magazine in formal and understandable text. This is because I wanted to use Standard English because my magazine is ‘POP’ and its more formal if I had done an RnB magazine I would of used street language. Moreover, because my target audiences are more students and workers it has to be understandable and formal English. The cover lines font of the magazine is normal and bold this is because to attract audience and let know them what is in the magazine. It was important for me to choose the appropriate Font for the cover lines; this is because it could change the view of the buyers or audience when they first see the front cover of the magazine. I have chosen ARIAL to make it formal and easy to read also in bold for it to stand out as well.

The costume I made my models wear was appropriate to the context and also to the genre of the magazine. The clothing is also modern and fashionable. The model on the left is wearing a hot pink blouse with shiny leggings , her accessories are : white fabric rose ring and she has a Chinese writing on her arm , also her makeup is suitable for the style of pop music she has pink tones of eye shadow and black eyeliner. The other model on the right is wearing more comfort style clothing, she is wearing a jumper that says smile on it also she is wearing black leggings as well and she is wearing a silver skull head ring. These costumes and accessories have a big impact on attracting audiences because the image stands out and the audience is going to look at the image first because its eye catchy.

Moreover usually front covers and contents page have images on it to attract the eye of teh audience for them to purchase the magazine. it is important to relate the costume to the genre or theme of the magazine which this would make the audience easy to allocate what magazine appeals to them.

QUESTION 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

In my audience research I’m individual targeting young aged 16-25 British audience. This is because Britain had a very strong pop music bands and singers.

I decided to target a younger audience as the models featured and the content of the magazine are likely to appeal to younger audiences as they are relatively new bands or solo artist like ‘Jessie J’ also like ‘The Saturdays’. Moreover the issues that are discussed now are how issues are affecting you people today. On the other hand my music magazine would appeal to young readers also it would discuss all issues surrounding the genre like festivals and concerts which is a common convention of a pop music magazine.In terms of ethniicity, POP music is usually related with western audience it has a large audience and could appeal to everyone. For indievidual target all races and gender. This is to make teh magazine target an larger audience that has a deeper passion for music or a strong love for music.

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

Q3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institution that would publish or distribute my magazine is Bauer Media. There is much reason why they would be more likely to publish and distribute my music magazine. Firstly Bauer Media does publish music magazines, but they do not have a magazine that has a genre and target audience like mine .By publishing my magazine Bauer Media would be  in a new status of marketing and would have a wider audience, whilst this would increased their popularity. Furthermore Bauer Media magazines such as EMPIRE & Q are largely entertainment and bit of music magazines. Whereas my music magazine is aimed at a typical audience reader and it only focuses on music. Moreover the company is focused on more culture entrainment scenes as well which this would be suitable for my magazine because it’s aimed at a variety of cultures and has entertainment as well. In addition, including a music magazine like mine would expand the company and gain my audience for Bauer Media which this would mean greater income for the company as well.

 Bauer would benefit from distributing my magazine because they would be targeting a new audience. this may seem bad but it would make Bauer Media be even more popular because they would have new audiences which this would be beneficial for Bauer. Also Bauer Media would benefit by distributing my magazine, by my magazine will be aimed at different cultures and  social group which this social group could bring variety of good effects to Bauer Media one of these is making the company be more large on the target audience and aiming at different age group .

Secondly, publishing and distributing my music magazine would have a massive financial benefit for Bauer Media. This would be by having a target audience that is young and a magazine that is focusing on POP music would extremely increase Bauer Media profits. Also, mentioning before by publishing a new music magazine like mine would gain popularity. In long term this would beneficial financially for Bauer Media as there would be increase in advertisements and sponsorships, this is because my music magazine is targeting a wider audience than the other magazines is distributing. Moreover increasing profits would make the company recognisable to audiences as they are able to combine it with my magazine.

I would distribute my magazine probably in music stores such as HMV and retail shops like WHSMITH / TESCO. This is because HMV is one of the biggest music stores in the UK and it’s for audiences that love music so it would be more understandable to distribute a music magazine in a music store. Also by selling at well known retailers such as Tesco it would make my magazine more accessible to my audiences as it is well placed in the shelves.

QUESTION 2 : HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULARSOCIAL GROUPS?

Q2 : HOW DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT REPRESENT PARTICULARSOCIAL GROUPS?
      

The target audience for my music magazine is teenagers – both female and male genders who are pop listeners. I represented this particular social group by using images that are used in my music magazine.  The first thing I did is I choose models that represent the social groups that I’m targeting which this was two females that are aged 16 and 17.

Also it is important the way you present your music magazine, the front cover is the first element to attract the particular social group that i'm aiming for . Which it is crucial the way the models are dressed and also the way they are posed, which this would make it clear for those who read pop magazine to pick up my music magazine form the shelf.

 Firstly i have taken a long shot camera angle . This is because the image (front cover) should be attractive and be suitable for the audience social group that i am aiming for. I have chosen pink color tones of clothing for my models this is because the magazine’s genre is pop. The two models are wearing ; the one on the left is wearing a hot pink tunic style top with black leggings and the one on the right is wearing a soft pink jumper that has a writing on it saying ‘smile’ she is also wearing a black leggings underneath the jumper. This look creates a feminine stereotypical pop female artist like ‘Katy Perry’. In addition not only the clothes creates a feminine look but also the jewelleries on the model gives that feminine style. Similarly the clothing and accessories is quite fashionable and also is linked to the concept, links to the genre of the music magazine.  

The tattoo on the models arm is presented in my shot because I wanted to attract the eye of my target audiences and could be from any social group. The tattoo is in Chinese  which this can relate to any ethnic group. The pose of the models can look like RnB but it is a pop magazine so I made the two female models pose in a position that they look feminine attractive but also dominant and masculine.   

                                                                                                                               

MUSIC MAGAZINE EVALUATION QUESTION 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

From the beginning of the course I have looked at 2 music magazine front covers to get some ideas of how my magazine would look. Also I have analysed magazine and presented the conventions to see who they were targeting .In my music magazine I have used some ideas from popular music magazines, I’ve kept it simply looking but did not spoil the realism in the magazine. My making my masthead stand out with the colour red from the rest of the magazine text it make it stand out and attractive too my target audiences. The font used is impact, I choose this font because it gives a modern style and it’s relevant the theme and genre of the magazine, and also I fell that is more suitable to my target audience. Moreover another recognisable conventions I used is placing the masthead behind the models, I did this so it looks professional and better, attractive.

The magazine style I was trying to follow is ‘vibe’ music magazine, although ‘vibe’ magazine is hip-hop and RnB music and my music magazine is pop I used similar structuring. In order to follow the conventions of a music magazine I used barcode and dateline to show this, also some music magazine place there dateline just under the masthead or top of the barcode, I decided mine to go on top of the barcode, to make it stand out.

 Furthermore, to fully attract my target audiences I had to use cover lines which is another convention generally used in magazine as they give a close view or idea what will be in the magazine and what will attract my target audiences. My covers lines are short plain but eye – catching. I have used the same font to not make the magazine look busy but I have made it bold so it can stand out and also so you can tell that is a cover line. My cover lines are just under they main image on the right side of the magazine this is because I wanted my magazine to look simply and easy to read. Moreover usually music magazine are vertically and they arrange there cover lines on the left hand side of the magazine to attract audience , but personally the cover lines should be placed either left or right , this is because of the image you use on your front cover . I’ve used two models which I placed them in the centre while taking the shot this is because I planned that my cover lines will look better on the right hand side, which this would stop the magazine front cover looking busy.

Disparity, those popular conventions of a music magazine is to use medium close up shot as a dominant image, but again it depends on the genre of the music magazine and theme. My music magazine is pop so I used medium/long close up to focus more on the image. Which this will attract more attention for pop music lovers.

My contents page also followed and has been developed conventions used in real music magazines. First of all I included different image, which this is used widely in conventions in real magazines, this is also used because it brings different issues and does not focus on one news and relates to the magazine and what will be in it. This would help the readers to decide if they want to continue to read the magazine or not. To attract my audience I have only used two images and made my contents page look simply and easy to read.

Furthermore, I also included categories that I arranged vertically around the page; this made the page look professional and also made me use the space of the page correctly, it looks organised and neat so which this makes it easy to read.

Differently in my double page spread and did not want to follow and use conventions, this is because I wanted to create my own style it still looks professional and its similar to other real double page spreads but I just wanted to create the layout myself. Also I wanted to link my double page spread to my front and contents page , I did this by keeping the colour theme similar but not the same this is because I wanted my target audience to see different style in one magazine. The double page looks modern and professional I did this by arranging my article on the left hand side with a stand out and the Headline was on the right hand side which this made me again use the space on the page neatly and made the page look simple. Also I used both left and right side of the page for the article to help me attract my audience because it made it eye catching and different from other articles.