7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

In my main task the quality of the main cover image is better than that of my preliminary, it has been well edited so that there are no shadows present, however in the preliminary task the picture still has shadows. There is more variety in the font style and size in my music magazine with the sell lines varying in colour and size with particular words being made to stand out which shows that I have progressed. Also the sell lines in my preliminary task are positioned down the left hand side only. For my music magazine I placed sell lines on both sides of the page making it look professional. Another way in which I progressed from the school magazine to the music magazine is by using a wider variety of colours and by using colours which stood out more, meaning that the magazine would be more eye-catching. There were also vast improvements in the quality of my contents page. The contents page for my preliminary task had no images and contained information on very few features. In my main task the contents page now contains more images and features along with an editors letter. I also had to construct a double page spread for my main task meaning that I used more journalistic skills. 

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the construction of our music magazine we had to record our progress as we went, to do this we used a website known as www.blogspot.com, I had never used this kind of technology before and whilst creating my magazine I learnt how to use it however it is not a technology that I will use after the production of my magazine as I did not enjoy using it.

I have used Microsoft Publisher on many occasions but never to create a magazine, I found that it was quite a good programme to use for creating the magazine and I had no problems in using this technology as I have used it before.

When taking my photo’s I started by using an Alba 8 megapixel digital camera, once uploaded on to the computer I saw that they were not of a very good quality therefore I changed the camera I used, the next time I took the pictures I used a 12 megapixel Alba camera and found that the quality was much better suited to that of a magazine.

When editing my pictures after taking them I firstly used ArcSoft MediaImpression which I have on my home computer. I edited the brightness and contrast of the images on this programme and re-touched some parts of the model, once at school I used Photoshop which I have not really used before to edit out the shadows on my images. I found this programme quite confusing to use and don’t think I will be using much after making my magazine. I also used Microsoft Office 10 in order to edit some of my images. This was a programme i had not used before but it as simple to use and worked well.

I also used a programme known as slideshare which i had never used before. I used this programme to upload my powerpoint presentations so that i could post them into my blog. I was new to this programme and have now learnt how to use it efficently.

Peer Evaluations

5) How does your product attract/ address the audience?

On my front cover I avoided the use of bright colours as I felt that bright colouring would not reflect the target audience and would therefore not attract them. The model used for the front cover image is wearing clothing of a darker colour also to draw attention more towards her face, I also chose for the model to wear bright coloured lipstick to help draw the attention to her face, the model has eye contact with the camera and is of a similar age to that of the target audience making the magazine more appealing to them. The sell lines I used all relate to the genre of music the audience would be interested in, the sell lines are short and to the point and address the audience in a chatty manner.

My contents page is also designed in order to attract a young, female audience who enjoy the Indie genre of music. My editors letter uses chatty, colloquial language in order to engage the audience. The use of the images would  attract the audience and make the magazine more appealing to them. By once again using models who are the same age it reflects the target audience and encourages them to purchase it.  I continued using the same colour scheme throughout the magazine to keep it continual. By using features that the audience would enjoy such as features about live music and the Indie genre of music it will interest the reader.

Throughout my double page spread I used light-hearted language in order to keep the reader engaged as it is reflecting the language they would use on a day-to-day basis. The music act featured inside is once again the same age as the target audience, this would appeal to them as reading about the act could inspire them and possibly encourage them to try and achieve their wants in life. The images used of the act differ from the colours used for the colour scheme. The colours in the images are vibrant therefore catching the readers attention.

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

The audience for my media product is mainly females from the ages of 14-18. It mainly addresses the female audience by the way it is written and the images used (which are of female artist).

My typical reader can usually be found listening to Ellie Goulding on her Ipod and planning the next live music event she will be attending along with her friends. She spends most of her school days doing photography and her weekends are spent shopping for clothes and shoes in Topshop. She is very down to earth and enjoys to play the acoustic guitar also. In the holidays she is rarely seen around her home town as she can mostly be found at music events such as Reading and V. Her wardrobe is mainly packed out with summery clothes and floral dresses accompanied with a straw hat ready for the festival season.

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

As the publisher for my music magazine I would choose IPC Media as they are the publishers for NME and I feel that this magazine is the closest to mine however mine is more for a female audience. IPC also publish UNCUT another music magazine which is also of a similar genre. They also produce magazines for a wide range of hobbies and interest covering areas such as fishing and horse riding.  I would choose IPC Media as they already publish a similar magazine so they are well established in that area however they do not have a music magazine which is mainly for the female audience therefore it would add to the company.

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

My music magazine represents the reader as being keen and regular music listeners as on the cover it shows the sell line of ‘20 greatest albums’ which portrays an interest in music and shows they often listen to music. Along with this sell line I have also mentioned live events such as ‘T4’ and ‘Reading’ which represents the reader as being someone who enjoys live music events and festivals. I targeted regular readers and this is presented through the sell line of ‘This weeks top 10’ suggesting that the reader is up-to-date with the charts and regularly buys the magazine. I also included a competition on my front cover once again showing the readers interest in live music events as they can win tickets to a concert at the O2 arena.

My contents page shows that the readers are regular as it mentions ‘last months winner’ and answers questions asked the previous month.  Also by including articles such as ‘music news’ it represents the reader as being interested in the whole music industry as well as just listening to the music. By including an article on ‘unsigned acts’ it represents the reader as someone who may want to start a career in the music industry and also as people who are interested in new artists as well as already established artists.

On the double page spread the artist is presented as being new to the music industry and not yet very established however she has already been successful with her single reaching number one. She is someone the audience can aspire to. The audience are represented once again as being interested in starting up their own music career, this is shown through the questions asked in the interview, the artist is asked how she finds her new career and how she balances school life with her music career. The artist featured is in the charts and this represents the reader as being someone who is up-to-date with music and what music is in the charts at the time.

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

My front cover fits with the codes and conventions of real media products as it has a large masthead which is aligned to the left and is the main focus of the page. Below that i also have the tagline 'It's off the hook' this once again uses the codes and conventions. Also my main image has the artist has eye contact with the camera which is also the case in many successful music magazines. My sell lines are all relevant and aligned down each side of the page which is seen other media products. However i challenged the codes and conventions by adding only one thumbnail image when other magazines will see more than one because it draws more attention to the cover. Also the main image in some way challenges the codes and conventions as normally with a single artist on the page you would expect it to be moer of a close up however i decided on a mid/long-shot as it seemed easier to fit the sell lines around without covering some of the models face.

My contents page also uses the codes and conventions yet in some ways challenges them also. I used sub-headings in which i listed my features underneath, you will see this in many other music magazines. Along with this i also made sure i had large page numbers so the reader could see them clearly, this is also used in many other magazines of this sort. By using an editors letter and photo it also uses the codes and conventions of other media products. I developed the idea of placing the images down the middle and the text on either side when i saw it done in only a few other magazines and in all others it seemed that the text was kept down one side and all images lined up down another side. Another part of my contents page which i haven't seen done in many others and would therefore be seen as challenging the codes and conventions is the fact that i have added blue shading behind my texts to make it stand out, this is something i did not identify as a typical code or convention of a music magazine. 

 Above is my double page spread which uses the codes and conventions of other media prouducts in the way that all the text is layed out into columns and also that what is said by the interviewer is in a different colour to the answer the artist gives so that they can be easily read and understood. Another way in which i used the codes and conventions of other media products is by having a large, exciting masthead which is in this case 'exclusive interview!' which will draw the reader in. Also by making the artists name bold in order for it to stand out. However i challenged the codes and conventions by only using two images, normally you would expect to see a wide variety of images of the artist and sometimes even images of them just carrying out day to day tasks. I developed the idea of using a wide range of shots on my double page spread by including a mid shot and a long shot to make it more vairied and interesting for the reader.

Construction - Final Draft of Double Page Spread



Above i have inserted the final draft of my double page spread and circled the changes that i made to it. The content of my interview has been altered to a more light-hearted tone which will make it more appealing to the teenage audience, i also used language that they can relate to. At the end of my double page spread i identified the price of the artists new single which previously i priced at '£11.99' however after doing some research and looking in to the price of single sales i dropped the price to a more realistic price of '£6.99'. Also in an answer given by the artist she stated that she was approached by two young girls who had purchased a hard copy of her single, however after looking into todays music revenue i found that the younger generation are more likely to download the music onto an MP3 therefore i changed the wording to fit today's favoured way of consuming music.

Construction - Final Draft of Contents Page

This is the final draft of my contents page there have been a few aspects changed in order to improve it. To begin with i enlarged the page numbers for each feature which will allow then to be easily identified which will make it much easier for the reader to naviagte to the page they want. I also added some light blue shading behind the text for each feature, this meant that the page was no longer just a plain white page with images and text, By putting it behind the text it allows the text to stand out and become more dominant on the page which will encourage it to be read. Lastly i slightly changed the language used in my editors letter to make it more exciting for the audience. To do this i added in phrases such as 'reveals all'  and 'exclusive interview' which make the reader feel that by reading this magazine they will find out something that others won't. It adds a sense of mystery and draws them in.

Construction - Final Draft of Front Cover

Here is the final draft of my front cover. I made several adjustments to the layout of the oage which i have circled above. Firstly i changed the shape in he top right corner from a circle to a more interesting shape which will stand out more for the reader and emphasis the price. I then changed the colour of the number '20' from a darker blue colour to a red in order to ensure that it could be seen clearly as it blended in slightly with the jacket the model is wearing which is of a similar colour. I also aligned the text to the side of the page which makes the layout look significantly neater and more professional which would encourage more music fans to purchase it. I also added in the official 'T4' logo which is advertising a feature for a live event. By using the official logo it makes the magazine seem more professional and the target audience would be more inclined to buy it and with my target audience being keen live music fans it would appeal to them and they would recognise the logo. Lastly i changed the font of the artists name to a different font from all the others and i also changed it to a darker red colour which i had not used before, this means that it is now more eye catching and as she is the artist pictured on the front it will draw more attention to her. I also changed the text surrounding the feature of the main artist from 'we catch up with indie star sadie-leigh to celebrate the success of her new single Unspoken' to 'We celebrate success with Sadie-Leigh'. This is much more approapriate as it is short and sharp and the use of the plural pronoun 'we' involves the reader and makes them feel as though they are personally a part of it.

Construction - 1st Draft Double Page Spread

This is the first draft done of my double page spread. I need to make some adjustments to the content of the interview, due to some things written being inaccurate. However i feel that i am happy with the layout of the images and the text, i have arranged it in columns and bordered the images with colours from the colour scheme i chose. I also feel that it would be easy for the reader to distinguish between the questions asked by the interviewer and the answers given by the artist. 

Construction - 1st Draft Contents Page

This is the first draft of my contents page. I added in another of my own images of another person to add more variety. It has been suggested that i change it slightly by making the page numbers for each feature slightly larger and therefore they will stand out more for the reader, there were not many changes that i needed to make to my contents page however the language used needs to be more chatty and more engaging for the reader so i shall make these adjustments ready for the final draft.

Construction - 1st Draft Front Cover

This is the first draft of my front cover as you can see i used the mid-shot of Emily with her eyes looking straight at the camera. There are some adjustments that need to be made to my magazine. It was suggested that i changed the round bubble in the top right corner into a more hard-hitting noticable shape. It was also suggested that i largen the name of the artist on the left hand sell line and make it larger, also i decided to change the colour and font of her name which i would carry forward on the other pages of my magazine. Another suggestion made was that i swap in the official T4 logo to make the magazine more realistic and lastly that I changed the colour of my sell line '20 greatest albums' as it blends in with the coat of the model. I also decided along with my teacher that it would be better if i aligned all the text of the sell lines to either the right or left (depending on which side they are situated on).