My front cover
My contents page
My Double Page Spread
Friday, 31 January 2014
Friday, 17 January 2014
EVALUATION QUESTION 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the school/college magazine) what do you feel you have learned in the progression from that to your full product?
I have created a presentation on prezi which shows how I have progressed from doing my preliminary task to creating my music magazine. Click on the link below to see my presentation! Click on the presentation to zoom in on the text.
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
EVALUATION QUESTION 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have created a presentation on what I have learned by using technologies when producing my product on Microsoft Powerpoint online. Please click on the link below to be directed to my presentation.
Sunday, 5 January 2014
EVALUATION QUESTION 5
How I attracted my audience
How did you attract/address your audience?
I attracted my audience in lots of different ways,first of all by making it obvious what genre the magazine was. I did this by using various artist and band names which are linked with the rock and roll genre, for example; The Who, The Rolling Stones, Jake Bugg and Beady Eye. This would clearly indicate to the audience that these artists are featured, and would attract them to buying the magazine if they were fans of the band. I put the use of these bands through my sell lines, for example The Beat Goes On! Beady Eye Announce UK Tour and Jake Bugg's Dream Festival Line-up.
My masthead was R&R, which again stands for Rock and Roll and staright away gives the audience an idea of what will be inside the magazine.
I addressed the audience personally and quite informally, I looked at magazines such as NME and Q to see how they addressed their readers and wanted to do the same. I used swearwords where I felt they sounded right, in the double page spread when the cover star was answering questions.
I have included my editors note to show the personal elements of my text, as I wanted to come across as friendly. I thought by making the editors note more personal it would be easier to read.
In my double page spread I made sure the interview sounded conversational and was easy for the audience to read. I noticed in magazines such as NME, they used complicated vocabulary. I wanted to make sure that the article made sense so I just stuck with simple words. I did use puns and dialect to make the text more informal.
I have included my editors note to show the personal elements of my text, as I wanted to come across as friendly. I thought by making the editors note more personal it would be easier to read.
In my double page spread I made sure the interview sounded conversational and was easy for the audience to read. I noticed in magazines such as NME, they used complicated vocabulary. I wanted to make sure that the article made sense so I just stuck with simple words. I did use puns and dialect to make the text more informal.
EVALUATION QUESTION 4: Feedback
Video Feedback
I asked for video feedback on my product from different people in my class. I asked them if they would buy my magazine, what they liked about it, what they disliked about it and what I should change.
My Front Cover
I asked Bryony for feedback on my front cover of my product, she told me what she liked about the front cover and also gave me improvements.
My Contents page
Abby analysed my contents page and told me exactly what she liked about it, if she would buy it and also what was attractive about it.
Courtnie analysed my double page spread article and gave me useful feedback. It was nice to hear positive things about my product and also get some improvements which would make my product better.
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram feedback
I used social media websites in order to get feedback on my products which I created. This helped me because I got to know whether my target audience would read R&R. The audience I asked are part of a younger Mod generation who are interested in the 60's/Rock n Roll genre.
I asked for video feedback on my product from different people in my class. I asked them if they would buy my magazine, what they liked about it, what they disliked about it and what I should change.
My Front Cover
I asked Bryony for feedback on my front cover of my product, she told me what she liked about the front cover and also gave me improvements.
My Contents page
My Double page spread
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram feedback
I used social media websites in order to get feedback on my products which I created. This helped me because I got to know whether my target audience would read R&R. The audience I asked are part of a younger Mod generation who are interested in the 60's/Rock n Roll genre.
EVALUATION QUESTION 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my music magazine is both young men and women from the age of 16-25 interested in the old to new rock and roll genre.
An R&R reader would be interested in the 1960's Rock and Roll/Mod music scene. Just like the cover model, they will dress in vintage clothing and follow mod culture by their style and taste in music. They will listen to Northern Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Rock and Roll and Mod bands such as The Jam, The Who, The Small Faces and The Kinks. As well as modern Britpop/Mod bands; Oasis, The Stone Roses and The Strypes. They will spend their money on the latest CDs or Vinyl, smart expensive clothing and gig tickets. Both male and female readers will dress in brands such as Fred Perry, Pretty Green and Art Gallery Clothing. They will also shop on the high street for some of their things. Men will wear the famous Mod style Parka and Desert Boots. They would go out to Mod/Northern Soul events or gigs, watch films which would reflect their interests; The Boat That Rocked, Quadrophenia, SpikeIsland, Brighton Rock.
My target audience would wan to by my magazine because it refers to how they dress and what they listen to, which would make the magazine more personal to them. It also includes information on bands and artists they like, as well as free CDs and Posters of Paul Weller, which they would be able to add to their bedroom wall.EVALUATION QUESTION 2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
When looking at both of these images, both postures of the women are the same. I have used the image of my cover model Bryony along with the late Amy Winehouse who was very famous for her vintage style. Both are standing and photographed at a direct angle with their outfits on view. Bryony is carrying props (records) but Winehouse is not holding anything, she has her hands by her side. Theyre facial expresions are dfferent, with Bryony conciously posing for the camera and Winehouse looking down towards the ground and smiling. Bryony looks a lot more seious whereas Winehouse looks relaxed and carefree. Both women are Fred Perry polo shirts and pencil skirts with bare legs, the only difference is that Winehouse is wearing a black shirt and a belt as an accessory. Winehouse is showing more cleavage for a more provocative look. Not only are the outfits similar but both women are sporting beehive hairstyles. The difference is that Winehouse's hair is longer and styled a little bit differently, it is also a darker colour that Bryonys. It is clear that both images have been photographed in a studio because of their clear backgrounds and the lighting, the image of Bryony has a darker backdrop than the image of Winehouse, which can be edited. The lighting in the image of Winehouse is a lot brighter than in the image of Bryony, and Bryonys face is not completely visible due to the prop and the slight shadow it creates.
Overall I think that both of these images represent a young social group who like to shy away from mainstream fashion and music. They like to look different and stand out amongst other people in their age group. Because they are so different they are seen as very confident by other people who see them for their individual style and the way they carry it off. Fans and readers will aspire to be like them because of their confidence and their rebellion against mainstream society. People will relate to them because of what they wear and what they are like as people. They aren't wearing really expensive clothing unlike girls in high fashion magazines, for this they will be admired by girl fans. Everyone featured in my magazine look normal but stand out because of their vintage style look and the way they present themselves by either their outfit, hair or make-up.
Readers of my magazine may also listen to Lana Del Rey, this is because of her vintage style just the same as Winehouse. They might also listen to Oasis as they are of the rock and roll genre. They have a retro style just like my model.
When looking at both of these images, both postures of the women are the same. I have used the image of my cover model Bryony along with the late Amy Winehouse who was very famous for her vintage style. Both are standing and photographed at a direct angle with their outfits on view. Bryony is carrying props (records) but Winehouse is not holding anything, she has her hands by her side. Theyre facial expresions are dfferent, with Bryony conciously posing for the camera and Winehouse looking down towards the ground and smiling. Bryony looks a lot more seious whereas Winehouse looks relaxed and carefree. Both women are Fred Perry polo shirts and pencil skirts with bare legs, the only difference is that Winehouse is wearing a black shirt and a belt as an accessory. Winehouse is showing more cleavage for a more provocative look. Not only are the outfits similar but both women are sporting beehive hairstyles. The difference is that Winehouse's hair is longer and styled a little bit differently, it is also a darker colour that Bryonys. It is clear that both images have been photographed in a studio because of their clear backgrounds and the lighting, the image of Bryony has a darker backdrop than the image of Winehouse, which can be edited. The lighting in the image of Winehouse is a lot brighter than in the image of Bryony, and Bryonys face is not completely visible due to the prop and the slight shadow it creates. Overall I think that both of these images represent a young social group who like to shy away from mainstream fashion and music. They like to look different and stand out amongst other people in their age group. Because they are so different they are seen as very confident by other people who see them for their individual style and the way they carry it off. Fans and readers will aspire to be like them because of their confidence and their rebellion against mainstream society. People will relate to them because of what they wear and what they are like as people. They aren't wearing really expensive clothing unlike girls in high fashion magazines, for this they will be admired by girl fans. Everyone featured in my magazine look normal but stand out because of their vintage style look and the way they present themselves by either their outfit, hair or make-up.Readers of my magazine may also listen to Lana Del Rey, this is because of her vintage style just the same as Winehouse. They might also listen to Oasis as they are of the rock and roll genre. They have a retro style just like my model.
EVALUATION QUESTION 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My masthead is R&R, which presents the genre of my music magazine. I thought that not only does it represent my genre, but also it is short and catchy just like 'NME' or 'Q.' The masthead is a typical convention of a music magazine which I have adapted to my own. All magazines use this feature to make the audience know the name of it and also to give the magazine recognition. I looked into a range of different mastheads so I could see what type of font was used and the types of colours. I played around on a website called dafont.com
to experiment with various fonts, I chose this one because it was bold and stood out on the page. I got feedback from my lecturer on different fonts and she suggested to choose a bold one rather than a handwritten one. My strap-line is placed underneath my masthead, in a thinner smaller font which underlines it. I chose 'the weekly fix for your music addiction' a it informs the reader that it is a weekly magazine and will contain lots of latest music news.
I have added an image of the NME masthead to show the similarities and differences between that and my own. The colour difference is obviously different, NME is famous for their use of reds, black and yellow which link with the 'indie' genre which they focus on. Whereas my masthead is blue, which goes with the 'red, white and blue' theme to reflect the genre of British Rock n Roll music. Similarly, both mastheads are short, snappy and stick in the readers head. They both contain three letters, the only difference is that my masthead includes the strap-line underneath. NME's strap-line 'new music express' used to be featured underneath the masthead, but has changed in time with the magazine layout.
My sell-lines obviously linked with the genre of my music magazine, I used my knowledge of recent things which have happened in the music world and also created my own stories. This magazine cover has been changed since this one, but here are all of the sell-lines which I included. Here I have also looked at using different fonts, and even found a font generator which is where I created the Beatles sell-line. I used the colour red to highlight the band/artist names, and also because my chosen colour scheme was red,white and blue. Sell-lines are another typical convention of a magazine in order to let the reader know what is in the magazine and to draw them in to buying the product. As you can see I have added an image of existing magazine Q, I feel as though the magazine covers are similar because they both have one part of the face covered. In R&R, my model Bryony has her mouth covered by the record which creates a sense of mysteriousness. Whereas in Q, Liam Gallagher's eyes are covered by his sunglasses, which also creates the same feeling and that typical 'Rockstar' look. On Q magazine, the masthead is placed over the model, the R&R masthead is placed behind the model. I personally like the masthead behind the model more, because otherwise I think it takes the shine away from the cover star.
On my front cover I had banners which advertised cover mounts and competitions. Not many magazines of the rock genre have cover mounts on their magazines, its more a thing for the pop genre. I wanted to include a cover mount to make my magazine a bit different and challenge conventions a little bit. My cover mount was posters and a CD which related to the genre and was relevent to the magazine itself.
On this front cover of MOJO, there is a banner along the top which advertises the free cover-mount which is included on the front of the magazine. By seeing this, I think that I have followed the features of music magazines especially by seeing a magazine of the same genre as mine use this convention.
The main image was taken at Sunderland University photography studio, my friend Bryony was happy to be my model and I styled her to fit the genre of my magazine. I have focused on 60's rock and roll, therefore I used props and costume to relate to this. In terms of mise-en-scene, I used an old vinyl as a prop and styled bryony in a vintage style dress, 60's style make-up and a famous 60's style beehive. I have noticed that there are only a few magazines which style their cover stars to match the genre. Pop music styles their cover models in the latest fashions and trends. As I had chosen an old style genre, I had to reflect this through my cover model so my magazine looked similar. Through the styling and props I feel that the genre of my magazine is suggested quite well.
The image of Alex Turner on the front cover of nme is very similar to my image. This is because of the use of props and the eye-line match. The cover model is male, but the image still carries the idea of a retro look.
The layout of my contents page could challenge the layout of other magazines, this is because I have only used one page when some magazines only use two. I chose to use one because I thought it personally looked better. I have used a range of navigation bars to direct the reader to the different stories and things in the magazine. A lot of magazines do this, for example MOJO magazine and Q Magazine use this feature to break up the text and easily guide the reader. I have written my own editors note which is another convention used to make the magazine more personal to its readers. I also broke up the text by using a few images that I have taken from gigs that I have been to, and layered the page numbers over the top.
On the contents page I have used in total five images, three in amongst the writing, one for the editors note and one for the banner. Most music magazines only have one or two images on their contents page. NME normally just has one main image and Q has around two images. I used the images to break up the text and bearing in mind it looks very different to normal magazine covers, I thought that using a few different images would add more detail and design to the page.
As quite a lot of magazines do, I have featured a subscription box on my contents page, this is another typical convention of a magazine in order for the readers to save money. I decided to have a subscription box because it made my contents page look more professional and also filled up space which I had. To go with the subscription box I made a different front cover with another picture and my own front cover as a few examples. I looked at other subscription boxes and found that they had a few images of past magazine covers to advertise themselves. The colours of the box were also different, being red and white it still stuck with the colour scheme but stood out on the bottom of the page.
The written content of my magazine is in an interview form, written in columns just like a professional published magazine (NME, Q, MOJO.) I wanted my interview to sound quite personal and like a flowing conversation which was laid back and easy to read. I also used colloquial language and exaggeration of accent which I had seen in other magazines. I liked the idea of this because I thought it made the writing seem quite fu and informal and more spoken rather than written. I also chose my style of writing to reflect my target audience, as a 16 year old interested in this genre, I would prefer to read an informal interview rather than something formal and quite hard to read and understand. This convention of using colloquial language is popular amongst indie/rock and roll magazines. Personally I think NME can sometimes be hard to understand and seems quite formal in terms of vocabulary. Just like other magazines, the font of my article is in a basic Arial font because it is easy to read.
I included pull quotes on my double page spread article, these were interesting quotes from the interview which I thought stood out and would make people want to read on. I had these quotes on the front cover, contents page and the interview itself. In a way these conventions apply to music magazines, as editors normally do include a pull quote from the main interview on the front page. On the other hand, it doesnt normally happen on the contents page, so I may have challenged the conventions a little bit by doing this. In terms of the font and colour, I chose a bigger font size to make the quotes stand out as well as placing them in speech marks and a contrasting colour.
My masthead is R&R, which presents the genre of my music magazine. I thought that not only does it represent my genre, but also it is short and catchy just like 'NME' or 'Q.' The masthead is a typical convention of a music magazine which I have adapted to my own. All magazines use this feature to make the audience know the name of it and also to give the magazine recognition. I looked into a range of different mastheads so I could see what type of font was used and the types of colours. I played around on a website called dafont.com I have added an image of the NME masthead to show the similarities and differences between that and my own. The colour difference is obviously different, NME is famous for their use of reds, black and yellow which link with the 'indie' genre which they focus on. Whereas my masthead is blue, which goes with the 'red, white and blue' theme to reflect the genre of British Rock n Roll music. Similarly, both mastheads are short, snappy and stick in the readers head. They both contain three letters, the only difference is that my masthead includes the strap-line underneath. NME's strap-line 'new music express' used to be featured underneath the masthead, but has changed in time with the magazine layout.
My sell-lines obviously linked with the genre of my music magazine, I used my knowledge of recent things which have happened in the music world and also created my own stories. This magazine cover has been changed since this one, but here are all of the sell-lines which I included. Here I have also looked at using different fonts, and even found a font generator which is where I created the Beatles sell-line. I used the colour red to highlight the band/artist names, and also because my chosen colour scheme was red,white and blue. Sell-lines are another typical convention of a magazine in order to let the reader know what is in the magazine and to draw them in to buying the product. As you can see I have added an image of existing magazine Q, I feel as though the magazine covers are similar because they both have one part of the face covered. In R&R, my model Bryony has her mouth covered by the record which creates a sense of mysteriousness. Whereas in Q, Liam Gallagher's eyes are covered by his sunglasses, which also creates the same feeling and that typical 'Rockstar' look. On Q magazine, the masthead is placed over the model, the R&R masthead is placed behind the model. I personally like the masthead behind the model more, because otherwise I think it takes the shine away from the cover star.
On my front cover I had banners which advertised cover mounts and competitions. Not many magazines of the rock genre have cover mounts on their magazines, its more a thing for the pop genre. I wanted to include a cover mount to make my magazine a bit different and challenge conventions a little bit. My cover mount was posters and a CD which related to the genre and was relevent to the magazine itself.
On this front cover of MOJO, there is a banner along the top which advertises the free cover-mount which is included on the front of the magazine. By seeing this, I think that I have followed the features of music magazines especially by seeing a magazine of the same genre as mine use this convention.
The main image was taken at Sunderland University photography studio, my friend Bryony was happy to be my model and I styled her to fit the genre of my magazine. I have focused on 60's rock and roll, therefore I used props and costume to relate to this. In terms of mise-en-scene, I used an old vinyl as a prop and styled bryony in a vintage style dress, 60's style make-up and a famous 60's style beehive. I have noticed that there are only a few magazines which style their cover stars to match the genre. Pop music styles their cover models in the latest fashions and trends. As I had chosen an old style genre, I had to reflect this through my cover model so my magazine looked similar. Through the styling and props I feel that the genre of my magazine is suggested quite well.The image of Alex Turner on the front cover of nme is very similar to my image. This is because of the use of props and the eye-line match. The cover model is male, but the image still carries the idea of a retro look.
The layout of my contents page could challenge the layout of other magazines, this is because I have only used one page when some magazines only use two. I chose to use one because I thought it personally looked better. I have used a range of navigation bars to direct the reader to the different stories and things in the magazine. A lot of magazines do this, for example MOJO magazine and Q Magazine use this feature to break up the text and easily guide the reader. I have written my own editors note which is another convention used to make the magazine more personal to its readers. I also broke up the text by using a few images that I have taken from gigs that I have been to, and layered the page numbers over the top.On the contents page I have used in total five images, three in amongst the writing, one for the editors note and one for the banner. Most music magazines only have one or two images on their contents page. NME normally just has one main image and Q has around two images. I used the images to break up the text and bearing in mind it looks very different to normal magazine covers, I thought that using a few different images would add more detail and design to the page.
As quite a lot of magazines do, I have featured a subscription box on my contents page, this is another typical convention of a magazine in order for the readers to save money. I decided to have a subscription box because it made my contents page look more professional and also filled up space which I had. To go with the subscription box I made a different front cover with another picture and my own front cover as a few examples. I looked at other subscription boxes and found that they had a few images of past magazine covers to advertise themselves. The colours of the box were also different, being red and white it still stuck with the colour scheme but stood out on the bottom of the page.The written content of my magazine is in an interview form, written in columns just like a professional published magazine (NME, Q, MOJO.) I wanted my interview to sound quite personal and like a flowing conversation which was laid back and easy to read. I also used colloquial language and exaggeration of accent which I had seen in other magazines. I liked the idea of this because I thought it made the writing seem quite fu and informal and more spoken rather than written. I also chose my style of writing to reflect my target audience, as a 16 year old interested in this genre, I would prefer to read an informal interview rather than something formal and quite hard to read and understand. This convention of using colloquial language is popular amongst indie/rock and roll magazines. Personally I think NME can sometimes be hard to understand and seems quite formal in terms of vocabulary. Just like other magazines, the font of my article is in a basic Arial font because it is easy to read.
I included pull quotes on my double page spread article, these were interesting quotes from the interview which I thought stood out and would make people want to read on. I had these quotes on the front cover, contents page and the interview itself. In a way these conventions apply to music magazines, as editors normally do include a pull quote from the main interview on the front page. On the other hand, it doesnt normally happen on the contents page, so I may have challenged the conventions a little bit by doing this. In terms of the font and colour, I chose a bigger font size to make the quotes stand out as well as placing them in speech marks and a contrasting colour.
Friday, 3 January 2014
Feedback: My Front Cover
I handed in my front cover to my lecturer and she gave me feedback on little things which I could improve on. She also gave me a grade for what I am working at now, which helped me a lot to find out how I could improve my work.
Some of the text on my front cover was quite pixelated, I managed to fix this by using the blending options on photoshop which made the text look softer and not have as many jagged edges.
This was the only thing I had to change on my front cover, apart from changing the text near my barcode to black so it was more visible and making the barcode a little bit smaller. My lecturer gave me an assessment grade which was a basic overview of the grade I am working at now, I got an A and 17/20 for my front cover.
Some of the text on my front cover was quite pixelated, I managed to fix this by using the blending options on photoshop which made the text look softer and not have as many jagged edges.
This was the only thing I had to change on my front cover, apart from changing the text near my barcode to black so it was more visible and making the barcode a little bit smaller. My lecturer gave me an assessment grade which was a basic overview of the grade I am working at now, I got an A and 17/20 for my front cover.
Feedback: My Double Page Spread
As well as my front cover and contents page, my lecturer also gave me helpful feedback on the double page spread I designed.
I didn't get as good a mark as I did for my front cover and contents page, I think this is because of the amount of white space which I have. The main things I had to change is the top 'R&R EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW' text which was quite small and needed to be made bigger. Not only would this fill some of the white space but would also make a statement that this article is an 'exclusive' piece. Another thing I needed to do was create an album cover which I could match with the article and feature on the bottom of the page to fill further white space. I did this by using one of my pictures and editing it on photoshop to create a CD cover.
Here is my improved double page spread below!
My lecturer commented underneath this post stating further improvements I could make to my work. I have made these further changes and feel as if they make the double page spread look better as a whole. I changed the size and positioning of the pull quote, made the width of the paragraphs wider and made more space between the introduction paragraph and beginning of interview.
Feedback: My Contents Page
My lecturer also marked my contents page and gave me a grade for it, this isnt my overall grade, but just a basic idea of the grade I am working at. Here are the feedback sheets below:
I had more to change on my contents page, including the size of the signature on my editors note, size of columns and also making the image of my model at the top of the page smaller so the top of her head wasn't cut off the page. I also had some punctuation to correct in my editors note which was basic stuff like commas and capital letters that I'd missed out.
Here below is my newly corrected contents page!
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