Last Post

Here is my final coursework blog, this blog contains all my research and planning spanning from when i first started. This blog is now complete and ready for assessment.

I bid you farewell thank you! :)

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learn't in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation Question 7

View more PowerPoint from Alice Roe

6. What have you learn't about technologies from the process of contructing this product?

This is my Vaio Laptop which i used throughout this project to create my magazine on. I did use the apple macs at college during lessons time but the majority of my work was done through this

I also used this memory stick to transfer the work i did in my lesson times from the mac apple computers which enabled me to have all the information i needed on my laptop

I used this Canon DSLR Camera to take all my photos for my music magazine

I learn't how to use Adobe Photoshop Cs3 to create features inside my music magazine like the masthead and the photographs which i edited

I also used Adobe InDesign CS4 to create my music magazine front cover, cotents page and double page spread.

Furthermore i created a blog account using "Blogger" which i used to post all the research i created about my magazine and shows how i researched and planned my activities throughout for my main project which was creating my final magazine outcome and evaluation.

I used Survey Monkey to answer my questionnaire to my audience research when researching ideas for my magazine

I also used Facebook to gather audience feedback of my final drafts by creating a group which i uploaded the drafts of my music magazine pages and asked for feedback on them from people and from this i made changes which created my final copy

                                             To edit my video i used final cut express

                                         Additionally from this i uploaded my video on "YouTube"


As well as this i used the program "microsoft office powerpoint" to create my presentations which i uploaded throughout my blog. After i created my presentations i uploaded it on a site called "slideshare" which i used to embedded my presentation onto my blog.




Overall from this i have learn't how to use a range of new programs which i had never used before i started this project. Before this i had never used slideshare before, photoshop, blogger or InDesign. I can also say i had never uploaded a video on youtube before. Yet now i feel confident in using all of these programs.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

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

The typical institution to distribute my magazine is Bauer Media. This is because they are a high up production company with over  80 influential media brands and reaches over 19 million people. Therefore i think Bauer would be better to represent and be the institution for my magazine. They produce many popular music magazines like Kerrang and Q. I have noticed they don't already have a magazine which is aimed at both sex's, i have also noticed they don't offer a magazine which genre is based on mainstream chart music which shows theres a gap in the market for it. As Bauer media has alot of experience in this proffesion and already has loyal customers my magazine could get off a good start.

My magazine would be based around the idea of the old classic magazine 'Smash Hits' which was last distributed in 2006. This magazine institution was EMAP Metro. My magazine will differ and be more of a success than this magazine as my magazines contains new ways in developing and engaging the reader to their target audience and gives the information they want to know. For example upcoming festivals which are becoming more popular and offering the conventions of a puff which grabs their attention to the magazine. Compared to before this decode is also more engaged by the world of music and more young people are more involved with listening to music of the charts of programs such as itunes and you tube and buy items such as headphones and ipods.

An existing music magazine which my magazine would also be based around is Billboard. This is another reason why i chose Bauer Media rather than their institution which was prometheus global media as this instituion already contained a magazine of this genre therefore there was no gap in their institution for mine. Therefore they would unlikely distribute my magazine compared to their already existing success one.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have represented young people within my magazine. The photos i took give a sterotypical view of how we see today's young artists in the world of music. For my front cover the person I used represents the body language young people tend to be represented by with his facial expressions and body posture. He is being represented as being confident, fun and the type of person who doesn't care about anything around him which gives him a chilled out cool look. The same look is being represented on my double page spread photograph. I wanted my photos not to be to extreme which might a niche magazines might do to interest their small viewers. A magazine like Kerrang show people in the magazines with a particular interest to rock. As my magazine is a mainstream chart music magazine i didn't want to limit it to a specific genre of music. As my magazine is mainstream it needs to appeal to most people and not a particular social group for example emos or goths. Instead i went for my photographs being casual and not to obsure which will appeal to a wider audience. I also added an extra lightning effect in my photographs which adds to the stylishness of the person. Overall i think these elements of the photo represents is conformed to the sterotype of youth in today to appeal to a mainstream target audience.

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

Evaluation Question One on Prezi

Final Outcome of Double Page Spread after target audience feedback

I only made a few changes to my double page spread as i didn't get many criticisms. The main criticism i got from a few of my target audiences was the lack of colour. From this I added a pink border around my article, changed the header of 'Exclusive Inteview' to the colour writing of blue and changed the colour of the font on my page numbers which is located at the bottom of my article. These all brightened up my article and made it look more attractive and less dull. They also said that they would prefer the main headline to be straight rather than slanted so i adjusted this. One person also said they would prefer the writing to be bigger, from this i changed the font  and font size to make it slightly bigger with it also being highlighted in bold

Final outcome of contents page after target audience feedback

This is my final copy of my contents page after receiving audience feedback. The changes i made to my contents page was i slightly adjusted the top photograph to make it bigger which was suggested by one of my audiences to fill up more space. I also changed the font of my subscription information which was suggested by two of my target audiences. They thought that it didn't look separate enough and stood out to get peoples attention so i also changed the colour font which makes it more bright and seeable than the other writing on the contents page, and included the website for backup information on the magazine to add to that professional and realistic look. One person suggested adding another photo just to fill up that gap above the front cover picture so i took a photograph taken at a club which represents the upcoming festivals and gigs within the contents.

Final Outcome of Front Cover after target audience feedback

This is my final outcome of my front cover after making changes due to audience feedback. The changes i made was moving the quote 'My time to shine' aligned straight instead of at a slant and moved it below the strap line which was more attractive and made good use of the empty space which came up alot as one criticism for the front cover. I did experiment with putting the quote on the chest of the person like my target audience suggested but it did not show as much as i wanted it to and thought it is better placed high above him where no colours would collide with the quote. I also moved the puff convention slightly more up to fill up that empty gap which my target audience suggested. And overall i just generally spaced my writing more out to make the magazine seem more balanced with the use of space making it seem more well layed out than it was before.

Audience Response Via Facebook on Double Page Spread

Sophie Lane This is really good and the only criticism I can think of is the lack of colour

 Emma Barnett Im not keen on the slanted big title, maybe make it straight instead? or perhaps make the white background a little greyer, so it isnt so contrasting with the dark background on the other page...? But all in all, it looks really nice :)

Beth Oliver This is really good! The image is really cool :)

Alice Bywater This is really goood ....although the only critism i can think of is maybe change the font style of the actual writing and make it bigger :)

Abbie Yapp I think it loooks good, but i agree with Emma I'm not keen on the slanted title. Also maybe just add a little more colour just to make it look more exciting. I think the image looks good :3

Lucy Crowther Looking good! I like the 'Becomes a lone ranger' as it works really well with the article and his ex-band name. The only thing i can think of is maybe make the article side a bit more colourfull and attractive. Bout overall its very good and looks professional.

Audience Response Via Facebook on Contents Page

Sophie Lane I like the subscribe idea and the pictures are great and so are the fonts. It's all good :D

 

Emma Barnett Yep, I like it alot. And I like the fact that all the pages follow a consistent colour pattern :) looks funky :D

Beth Oliver This is brilliant Alice! :D
But, I'm not sure if I like the idea of having the front cover in the bottom corner... Sorry :/ but apart from that it's brill!! :D x

 William Lloyd I like the colour scheme and the digital typefaces you've used, though I reckon the regular feature font could be changed to something that isn't so caps lock-y. Maybe consider expanding the photo in the top left to cover a lot more space; that way you can make your contents page look much busier (more to look at or read) with less white space. Other than that, perhaps move the cover image to the bottom of the page and have the offer text beside it. :)

Andreea Bocancea I like the picture of abby, it goes well with the background, but the picture of the magazine could be placed a little more discreetly and not so squished in ratio, i would also change the font there because it looks like part of the contents, also 6 pounds for what? How many a month? and how do people sign up, there is no contact information or terms and conditions. Also the titles of this page are a little confusing, is the Contents a feature? or is the plus a regular? I would also copy the banner at the top and put it at the bottom for balance. :)

Alice Bywater This looks really goood and professional :) Although i think the picture should be a little bigger. Also maybe put the writing Subscribe to Rythmic etc on top of the image and the image below if you understand what i mean. Other than that great :)

Lucy Crowther The house styles nice and strong, i really like the banner at the top. Features are looking good, might want to add a little explination about some of the more important features and make the page look full. Beats picture lookes good, i works well that you have it by the feature of the competition. The supscription is an amazing idea and works well with the convention of magazines these days.

Audience Response Via Facebook on Front cover

I set up a facebook group where i uploaded the three drafts of my music magazine pages.
For my frontcover these were my results;

Sophie Lane I like the title :D But the "It's my time to shine" doesn't look right being slanted and looks random, it wouldn't be like that on a real magazine, other than that it's great :D

Emma Barnett I agree with Sophie, and maybe you might want to put the purple oval shape thing saying "win a pair of beats by dre headphones" a little higher up near the title, as it doesnt really go with the central image. Other than that, it looks very professional

Beth Oliver I agree with Sophie and I don't like the gap in the top right, just under the masthead - it just needs something to fill that gap! But apart from that.. It looks great :D

William Lloyd I like your masthead- good choice of title for the genre and the colour scheme to match. 


You could perhaps invert the blue and the white; having that white clash with the black strapline underneath looks a bit wonky. You could move the UK £2/March from the bottom of the page to the top (and you don't need a bar code unless you particularly want it). I'd suggest using "it's my time to shine" as a potential banner that stretches the width of the page towards the bottom and have the little "exclusive with Dan Roe" etc just underneath it, so the three coverlines you already have can be moved upwards (you can remove 'features' because it's obsolete), I like the image you've used with the silver background, perhaps make him look a bit more enthusastic about music in particular? Give him a microphone or guitar or decks or something? The purple oval is a nice touch :)

Alice Bywater I really like your colour scheme :D i think the It's my time to shine though should maybe be across his chest ...also maybe make the font a bit bigger. Other than that its really goooood! And i love your title :) it looks very professional.

Abbie Yapp I like the colour scheme think it goes well with the theme of the magazine. I agree with Alice I think "It's my time to shine" could be a little bit bigger and could possibly go across his chest. I loooove the name of the magazine. Also you could maybe place another coverline in the right hand corner just to cover the space. Other than that I loooove it :3

Lucy Crowther Really liking your front cover and as you know i love the whole title! I dont know what your target audience is but if its mixed gender the covers looking a little girly to appeal to boys. Its good how you've highlighed 'exclusive' really attracts attention to one of your main stories. This is a really nice front cover :)

FINAL draft of double page article

Development of my double page article

Final DRAFT of contents page

Development of my contents page

FINAL draft of front cover

This is my final draft of my front cover for my music magazine, i will research and ask a few of my target audience im aiming at what they think and state what they like about it or they may dislike which i will adjust and change for my final copy of my front cover

More development of Front cover

Final Front Cover Photo Edited