In my first draft:
THE MASTHEAD
For the title of this main masthead magazine I used the ‘Roadway’ font. I liked the simple effect this had on the title ‘Broken Record’. With my title I didn’t want to have a bold larger font, I just wanted it in simple plain black text, This is because the magazine I was trying to create isn’t mainstream and isn’t looking to catch peoples attention the people that read my magazine know it exists without the need of over advertising. I think looking back at this masthead I now don’t think it worked. Especially after my feedback from audiences when they said it wasn’t ‘real’ looking enough. My first draft was much too busy and was not the simple look I was trying to get just like ‘IndieMagazine’ and In this independent way because it combines the certain conventional and unconventional features of a masthead, making it simple yet unique and with its simplistic features in a sense slightly more eye-catching and memorable to my usual readers.
MISE-EN-SCENE
For my images I had two different looks, the rock and roll, British look, with the simple plain background and its British clothes and colour’s: blue, white, black and red.
My other look for my model was the more classy British look, wearing pearls black and white. Again with the plain background. These two were a contrast to how people portray the British people either highly classed or the British rock and roll look stereotypically.
These image looks go with the concept of my magazine because they reflect the essence of British rock and indepent look that I was trying to capture. In addition to this, my image looks follow the conventions of magazines by displaying the model who was the new artist as not caring what others think, rocky and the other look of her personality was changed, well brought up and respectable highly classed lady. This is portrayed by her mode of address – she is looking directly at the camera in most of the photos.However i didnt feel my images contrasted the 'INDIE magazine' look i also felt the quality of my images werent as good as they could be so i didnt feel happy over all and this is why this was my first draft.
COSTUME AND PROPS
To create my indie magazine British look I had various props including; Tea mug and cup, Pearls and also I Did use a teddy in shots which are the images I didn’t use but I felt it captured my models softer side. I used a mirror this caught her looking at her reflection as I wanted this theme first of all about how she is looking at what she is becoming as a newly signed artist but I changed it into the two set costumes of her two spilt British personality's. ‘Who says you cant be more then one kind of person?’ And also in my shots I had my model wearing geek glasses however I choose not to use these shots. All my props and costumes where chosen because I had a certain theme of the British look I was trying to create. Just like mainstream magazines have today, with their unique looks. However after doing my photoshoot i feel i needed to back my backgrounds more simple and less props so we can really focus on tha main person in the photo.
WRITTEN CONTENT
The written content of my magazine follows the codes and conventions of a standard music magazine by covering similar topics in the questions. For example, it asks about Millie Mays new album, upcoming touring experiences etc. It includes various interviews with well known singers like ‘Hayley Williams’ as well, All of these topics could be found in a real music magazine aimed at teenagers and young adults. In addition to this, the stand first follows conventions by introducing the Millie May at the start of her interview. My language used in the interview and throughout the whole magazine is chatty with familiar mode of address which is conventional and relates to the Teenagers of this age. Howver i want to focus on the INDIE Magazine look and there is hardly any advertising on the front cover so when i do my final cover it will have hardly any advertising at the front to create the same effect.
CONTENTS PAGE
With my contents page I had the page numbers in a larger white font outlined in black. I had one larger picture in the right hand corner outlined by “CONTENTS” which is split in half to go upwards/sideways and on the top. I have used two other photos on the far left bottom also. The written text is black and simple. And my background is white. My contents page is unlike any other music magazine resembling for instance “Q” or “NME” as there contents pages are more packed with information whereas mine is more simpler and straight to the point with little information. Looking back at my contents page from my audience feedback i saw that it looked unfinished and did not look like the Indie Magazine i wanted it to look like.
LAYOUT
The title across the top of the page in bold black simple and clear, and the sell lines displayed around the edges of what my magazine featured. A conventional layout is also evident in my contents page, where I have the heading "con” and“tents" split across the top and side of the bottom photo with the text organized in to sections above and down the side of it. My double page spread also sticks to some but not all magazine codes and conventions in that the interview is organized in to columns on both side, and the main image is split on two, is on the both as well. With the title on the far left hand bottom, following onto the far top right hand corner. I did not include a bar code however and the price. From my audience feedback i was told that they felt lost on where to read first to, i then decided to do a whole new double page spread contents page and Front cover.
My final magazine:
THE MASTHEAD
When i chose my Masthead title i wanted to keep it simple so i chose the simple text font and chose the colour white. I felt having it bold white didnt look like the look i was trying to create so on photoshop i faded the colour to make it more invisible white so it wasnt as harsh on your eyes with such a bold colour. Just underneath it i included in bold small white font 'The Independant music magazine'This kept my title font simple and effective exactly like INDIE Magazine. I am happy with my final masthead in my new front cover.
MISE-EN-SCENE
For my mise-en-scene i had the outside nature look with his beer and cigerette to look as if he didnt have a care in the world. I had simple images so i could concertrate on his facial expressions more and i had character showing images of him for instance in a baby cot and throwing money about. Showing he is successful in what he does.
COSTUME AND PROPS
I Had much to many props in my first photoshoot and first draft of my magazine so when i took my images of my new model i kept it as simple as possible but still creating a character. I had the outside look with a wooden background and the only props i had was his cigerette and his beer can. I had him with a plain background so we focus souly on him and i had him in a bed with CD's everywhere and money this was a bit of an experiment shoot as i didnt know if those images would look too busy. I also had him in a baby cot showing he has liked music 'Ever since he was a baby'.
WRITTEN CONTENT
I kept the written content as simple as i could like INDIE Magazine without having not enough text. My text i kept simple with as little detail as i could as the main focus for my music magazine is my models as the people that read my magazine already know its a music magazine and my magazine is not mainstream.
CONTENTS PAGE
In my first contents page i had a plain background and my images looked placed and unfinished i also had the same model in every photo. So my final contents page i have various different images i made the scratchy black pen outline so it looks more concervative and edgy.I had the main image on the right hand side of my male model smoking and then a FIRE EXIT sign on top with a NO SMOKING? tag line. I had black boxes staggered on the far left including highlights of pages.On the bottom left i had my female model with her make up all done with a voice bubble saying how to get that look. This has made my contents page much more relatable to a real magazine than my first contents page draft.
LAYOUT
My layout of my magazine was quite conventional. My cover has a classic layout of the image taking up the entire page, my Font is simple with its small tag line underneath i kept to the one colour 'White' apart on one ocasion on the front cover i put a certain text description in black to bolden it. I kept a short music lyric tag line at the bottom left hand side, his signature placed on the front cover and on the far right bottom the price,barcode, website, issue, edition, month, and description. I kept my double page spread interview on one page and added more photos this time. My contents page had more of a variety of images rather than the same model throughout the whole magazine. As any normal real magazine would have various different pictures.
MUSIC GENRE AND HOW YOUR MAGAZINE SUGGESTS IT:
The genre of my music magazine is indie/rock/alternative. This is because it is not connected to the mainstream magazines. I based my Magazine on the independent magazine ‘Indie’. When I first read this I saw exactly the type of people who where featured in it and read it and this is what I wanted to aim my magazine towards teenagers of about 13 onwards including up to the age of around 24. It is a new age fresh look and I have tried to keep my magazine slightly simple with its basic colours to create this certain feel and look to it.
Overall, i feel my final magazine uses the simple Indie approach but also challenges it with its different contents page as Indie magazine contents page is just a picture. My magazine achieved the Look i wanted it to have. Especially on my Front cover and i felt i have followed the conventions throughout basing it on what i wanted my magazine to look like in its final form.
2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social group I chose to aim my media product was the eccentric independent rock teenagers who aren't necessarily into mainstream music too much and who like independent low key bands and clothes brands creating their own unique style. I used a model that was wearing edgy indie clothes which would be similar to how my audience would dress. My find your tribe anaylsis and my audience research lead me to find people are put into groups regardless if they want to be and one of the more popular ones was my indepedant look as it seems in this age noone wants to look similar as much its as if we are having a rebal of independance. Not all people this applies to but i found it did apply to a fair few people.
3.What kind of institution would distribute your product and why?
I’d consider Bauer Media as they already distribute Q magazine which is kind of the same genre as my product as it has that rocky look. However it is not an independent magazine distributer and they already distribute Q, it still would be worth looking into.
Indie magazine however, is distributed by COMAG. This is a worldwide independent company and this would most probably be the distributers I use as it is the exact same category as my magazine is. COMAG is published by ‘Plastic media’ Who I would hope would publish my magazine also as this magazine is aimed at the exact audience and type I want my magazine aimed at.
4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
My magazine is aimed at 13-24 year olds both male and female. But its slightly aimed at females more because of the way I designed my magazine and how I presented the written content, cover and double page. I think my magazine would still attract men because of he content inside or even because it’s a independent simple cultural magazine and not a ‘gossipy’ girlie type one. My magazine focuses on the photography rather than the aadvertising so i think the audience would be quite arty.
My audience would wear outrageous, fashionable/retro/vintage unique clothing and be interested in local indie music and some old music, with expectations to a couple of new age modern music in the more mainstream area. They would spend their free time going out with their friends to pubs, gigs, parties and other events like festivals. Camping trips, shopping in charities shops and taking a lot of free time along going on walks and reading books.
I based this audience on what I had learnt from my research. From my questionnaire I learnt what was most popular amongst young people I was aiming at so I could base my magazine on this. For example, I found what artists, festivals and so on were most popular so I could use this in my magazine. I also found things from my questionnaire that helped see how my certain audience consumed music, which I thought was very important. I found that music was most popularly consumed over the internet, usually illegally downloaded. And listened to at live gigs regularly.
Although my questionnaire showed me what my targeting age range was interested in, it didn't decide what particular social group from this age range I was going to aim my magazine at. From "Find Your Tribe", I got the result as a ‘Townie' That was when i tried to answer my questions step by step as an open minded person and i still got categorised. I saw that this was for more open minded chilled people which is who my audience is aiming at which my results I could see I was basing my audience around the same frame of mind as myself this helps because I can relate to what my audiences wants in their magazines.
The economic group would settle in to groups B - E. This is because they would most likely be students at college or university working a part time job
Their physiographic profiling would be a combination of explorer and eccentric independent person. My audience would be classified as explorers because they would seek new experiences and thrills, such as travelling. They would be eccentric and care free about the world ‘almost hippy like’ seeing love in the world in their own individual way. They are also indepent as they have their own style and interests and don’t follow a crowd. They may also be succeeds as they could be a student or someone trying to gain experience and qualifications in order to become successful.
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
I used many simple yet different techniques to attract my audience. I used normal simple British language so my audience could relate to it and understand it easily. I didn't make it complicated and structured. I created something that was easy and enjoyable to read. I also included quotes of music lyrics to relate to the younger generation. Throughout my magazine I felt I used the right fonts that would attracts my audience in the simplest way. For my masthead I used a simple, modern, white font that I thought would appeal to my audience fadded slightly to create that edgy look. I continued to use a similar font in the interview and subscriptions. I felt the content of my contents page would really attract my independent audience. I used more than one model rather than my first draft and i included abit of rule breaking with one of my models smoking with the signs 'No Smoking?' and 'FIRE EXIT' showing he really shouldnt be doing it. I included articles about real established and uprising new indie artists. I felt these would appeal to my audience as they would want to know about all the updates to do with music and its culture. I also tried to aim my double page spread content to my audience as much as possible by using a lot of pictures to give it that arty look. In the questionnaire I included questions and answers that would appeal to my audience and be something they could relate to. This was chatty language and wasn’t too formal so my audience felt like it was friendly and easily readable.
In my images I had my model wear unique yet indie British clothing. I felt this gave him an image that my audience could relate to. I also had him pose in confident, fun ways which gave them a friendly, exciting image which is also something I think my audience can relate to. I gave my model tthree different backgrounds his outdoors shoot, inside the bedroom and pa pplain background. I think I also should have used some more models in my images to equal out the balance in my magazine. I created my masthead to appeal to my audience by using a modern simple white font. This was bold but fadded and easy to read, and I think it worked really well for the style of my magazine.
I represented my social group in a positive way through my images and content. I think the way I have represented my audience would attract them to my magazine. In my images my artists look confident, independent and fun loving so I think this representation would address my audience well.
I laid my magazine out in a clear and modern but the large and small use of fonts makes it look futuristic. I used a grid like style, especially on my contents page but placed images and text in a way that made it look interesting. The layout of my magazine cover is what a magazine would usually look like, which I thought worked best in the music magazines I looked at in my research. I think the layout of my magazine would appeal to my audience because it was easy to read yet each page had a modern and fun that my audience should find interesting. My magazine included a small bit of text mostly in white on the front cover and black and white in the ccontents page and double page spread.
I intended to aim my magazine at both males and females, but it turned out to be aimed at predominantly females. I think the colour scheme I used is however optional gendered as it’s simple colours. Overall the look of my magazine I think would easily appeal to both sexes.
From my audience feedback, I think I have been quite successful targeting my audience. All the females and males I asked said they really liked the colour scheme I used and the images. Nearly everyone I asked said they liked how the simple front cover looked to realistic because it wasnt too busy and felt i did follow the conventions of 'Indie Magazine' and was easy to read. People also mentioned how they liked the layout because they thought it was well composed and interesting with the picture taking up the whole page. Some improvements people suggested were to include some more articles on established artists in my contents page and sell lines because they said this would have attracted them more, more free things to give away. Overall, I got good audience feedback and feel my magazine worked well to attract them.
6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I used my MacBook Pro to complete my work as I had Photoshop and InDesign on it which was the programmes needed for my coursework.
I also used a memory stick to transfer the work I’d done on my Apple laptop this was also because I needed my work on a separate stick so it didn’t get confusing and I always had enough room to put all my media work onto it, and if I needed to edit something on the college computers I had it all saved onto my memory stick.
The camera I used to take photos was a black cannon, it had an adjustable focus point and was helpful when I wanted different shots.
Even though I had InDesign and Photoshop on my computer already I had never actually ever used it, so it was all very new at first and I did find it slightly difficult to use, until I read some information on how to use it in a manual book.
To upload my work I put it into Microsoft power point, then I uploaded that to slide share before taking the link from slide share and copy/pasting it onto my blogger which then uploaded my videos of my work immediately.
I used the site ‘blogger’ as a presentation of my work and all my final research and piece for my coursework is displayed onto my own blogger out in the public domain, accessible to other people.
I used the site: Dafont.com to find my ‘roadway’ title font, I took it from this website and downloaded it onto my computer On my first draft.
Overall, I think I have learnt a lot using these different technologies, as I had no idea about how to use InDesign and Photoshop so it really helped widen my knowledge of using them, also I had no idea that by uploading a PowerPoint to ‘slide share’ that you could copy and paste that url onto blogger and a video would automatically upload, a much simpler easier way of showing your work.
7.Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
MY PRELIMINARY TASK:
MY FIRST DRAFTED MAGAZINE:
MY FINAL MAGAZINE COURSEWORK:
Since creating my perlimary task of my school magazine my knowledge of using Photoshop has increased so much as before I had no idea how to use them both. For example I now know how to make elements of my magazine stand out more by using drop shadows and outer glows and how to render parts of my photo to give it a more focused look. I learnt how to select parts of photos using the quick selection tool in order to cut things out. I've also learnt how to download newer more interesting fonts, e.g. ‘dafont.com’ increasing the visual appeal of my magazine from my first draft. As well as this, the complexity of my page layout has increased as I've learned how to use layers in Photoshop more effectively, and how to place the text correctly in InDesign. Overall my understanding of the various software's has improved a lot throughout this project because at the start I had no idea how to use Photoshop and InDesign, and now I have produced a professional looking magazine using it I feel and I am confident using both software's again with ease after having a first drafted magazine i was able to get a lot of feedback and much more experience so now i am happy with my final front cover, contents page and double page spread because they use what i took back on my feedback and i feel my final project has followed the uses and conventions of 'Indie magazine' and i feel i have learnt a lot from this whole coursework process.
