My final pages for my magazine.

Evaluation Part 7

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

From comparing my ‘School Magazine’ to my final ‘Music Magazine’ there is a massive difference in the way they look, and the elements I have chosen to use on each. When concerning the colour scheme I would say that my music magazine colour scheme looks much better as the work well together and stand out against each other. My school magazine uses solid colours blue and fuchsia, which would not normally be put together on a magazine because they could come across slightly boring, simple and more childlike whereas this is not the audience my music magazine is aimed at. I think my skills at putting colour schemes together have got much better, especially looking at both magazines. But these skills have improved because I previously researched music magazines within my planning process, which enabled me to realise which colours worked best together and why. My skills for taking pictures on the Nikon cameras has improved as I used them a lot more which allowed me to figure out which settings will be needed for certain images especially, the lighting and aperture. The image i chose to use on the school magazine is extremely simple and the background is slightly dull. When creating the images for my music magazine i thought about the type of image i wanted before i started taking photos, and thought what would fit in with my magazine theme. I had to think about the clothing i would want to be on my model as it would need to link to the magazine along with the background. As the background in my main image is of bricks, i chose this because i wanted the model in the image to attract more attention than the background; however the background links to the reality. I feel that my eye for images on a magazine has improved through my research too. My Photoshop skills have improved the most; this is because i was able to experiment with it and try out new things which then stuck in my memory as i could possibly use certain techniques again. The use of Photoshop looks minimal on my school magazine compared to my music magazine. I learnt how to change aspects of an image and how to use different fonts. The main image on my music magazine in black and white, which is clear to see I have changed it from colour, also certain areas are darker such as the models hair and eye, this too is because I changed the levels and shadows, whereas my school magazine photo has clearly not been changed. Photoshop has allowed me to move texts and images around which make my magazine look more professional because the main sell line stands out against the others sell lines. I learnt the layout of magazines through my research and analysing of successful magazines, which showed me certain areas of which the eye is drawn to which links to the purpose of certain images and texts being in those areas.

Evaluation Part 6

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

Throughout making my magazine I mainly used Adobe Photoshop which enabled me to compile certain elements together which I wouldn’t have been able to do through using a simple software. To ensure the outcome of my images were going to be a success and in focus, I used a Nikon camera. By using this camera i could take the pictures i wanted by using different angles and different apertures which could make certain elements within the image purposely blurred or not. Also as i could change the settings concerning the lighting with the camera, i could make the lighting darker or brighter, or decide how much light i wanted in the picture. I chose to have a lot of light enter the picture as it allowed my image to work well next to the dark text being employed. Before this project I only knew the basics of Adobe Photoshop, but through using it a lot and testing new things out, I now know a lot more and was able to change certain aspects of my images to make them look better and work well next to the other elements on the same page. Also to place certain elements in specific places, through using different layers. Through using Photoshop I was able to change specific images into black and white along with changing the brightness and contrast in certain areas. I wanted to change most of my images to black and white because I thought it fitted in better with the colour scheme, and also resulted in continuity. I too used rectangular shapes to enhance the text of the sell lines, all of these shapes and text were in the same colours which linked to continuity and allowed the sell lines to jump out to the reader. To get the fonts that I wanted I had to research into different fonts and then link them into Photoshop. Once i knew how to do this it contributed a lot to making my magazine look professional, because popular and successful magazines have mastheads and sell lines which unique and loud fonts which stand out to the reader, and are not plain and simple. I wanted fonts which were different and looked busy because i think it is one of the main parts to the magazine, especially to enhance the masthead and make it well known and remembered by the readers. Also, i feel that the fonts I have used relate to the theme of my magazine.

Throughout making my magazine, using Photoshop and Nikon cameras have benefitted the creating process of my magazine because it enabled to make elements of my magazine look as professionally as possible. The angles of my images have been a success as they have direct address to the reader, which makes the images personal. Photoshop has enabled me to change certain areas of images and use unique fonts, along with combining images and text together, which helped enhance the main sell line.

Evaluation Part 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine will sell because of the elements which are featured throughout the magazine. I knew I had to vary the content because I didn’t want my magazine to be repetitive and become boring to the reader. During my magazine I have included aspects about different indie/rock bands (all shown on the contents page), because this is one of the main aspects readers want to see in the magazine especially as it a music magazine. Including lots of bands will help the magazine sell because everyone will find a band which appeals to them, and the reader can find out further information about particular bands, and look into their upcoming gigs and events, therefore it too helps promote bands. Within my magazine general news about indie/rock bands is featured. This enhances the reality to the magazine as this is happening now, and informs the reader of what’s new, and what is going on with bands at the moment. I have tried to vary my magazine therefore I have included “Example takes us on a midnight run”, “Touring with Adele” and “Coldplay’s Paradise”. This gives the reader a chance to know certain information about what a music artist is doing, but more in depth. Also, with Example and Coldplay it highlights their new hit tracks which will influence the reader to listen to them and be up to date with the new releases. With the touring element about Adele, this allows the reader to read into back stage aspects during the tour, therefore they would be more involved in her ‘doings’ and learn if she will be touring anywhere near them. I purposely wanted to include an interview because this is the main ‘hot spot’ of the magazine considering it is one of the most popular acts of the year, and their music appeals to everyone. The interview would help the magazine sell because it gives the reader more of a chance to get to know the music artist on a personal level, and know what she sets out to do next. Following this article there is a shorter interview with yet again one of the top new artists this year. I chose to include this because even though it is a small chat, it will make the reader want to know what his next plans are. Also during my magazine I have chosen to show the reader the current charts, which will keep them up to date within the music industry, and also a comeback which is soon to take place. This will make the reader want to know more, and hopefully find out who it is or a clue to who it will be. The competition in my magazine will contribute quite a lot to the magazine sales because ‘Reading’ is a popular festival to attend especially because most of the acts featured in my magazine will be playing there. By including this, it will enhance the purchases because most people into indie/rock music would jump at the possible opportunity to go to this event. Finally, the A3 poster is a one off in this issue of the magazine, and will appeal to the reader as this has not been featured before and is a free image of an indie/rock band.

I have made my music magazine attractive to the buyer by including colours which play off each other, and stand out against one another, especially red. Also, all colours used are not specifically for one sex, it relates to both male and female. I have included different and busy fonts which will grab the buyers attention, along with many different loud and confident images of popular music artists. Also, pull quotes and sell lines will attract the reader and leave them wanting to know more.

The uses and gratifications theory have been used in my magazine as certain aspects have been included for the audience to relate to and communicate with the magazine. I have used selling techniques such as “subscribe”, this allows the reader to receive the magazine every month. Also the website has been included so that the reader can find out more information about the magazine, or possibly read elements of the magazine online.

Evaluation Part 4

Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

My music magazine obviously has a specific target audience, but it may be seen as a slightly larger range than other magazine because the theme is an all round popular genre of music. I chose to for my magazine to have the music genre of Indie/Rock because it would appeal to a lot more people and therefore enable it to sell more. This magazine would appeal to a wide range of ages, most probably from 14-27. This age group would mainly be drawn towards this magazine because the bands and artists are mainly younger and have become popular within the young generation. Also the artists featured in my magazine would be found playing at festivals, events, gigs etc. This reinforces the fact that teenagers and young adults are mainly at these places with a group of friends. Stereotypically older people prefer older music artists, and the younger generation prefer younger artists, this is because different artists are popular within different generations therefore an older person would not often be seen at a festival. When considering gender, I think that my magazine would appeal to both male and female, mainly because there is a range of both sexes throughout my magazine. There is both male and female music artists/bands during my magazine which have indie/rock records which reflects the fact that there would be no reason why this music is only aimed at males or females. Also in my magazine there are two interviews, the main one a female artists and the other a male artist, I have done this purposely because it is equal and I didn’t want my magazine to be sexist and focus on one sex. Also not all females prefer female artists and not all males prefer male artists. My magazine does not focus on any social class because I feel that it has nothing to do with the purpose of the magazine. This magazine would appeal to someone of a lower class as much as it would to an upper class person, it depends on the persons preferences in a magazine and music, and it doesn’t concern money or their social background. If a magazine were to appeal to a specific social class it wouldn’t be as successful because it would stereotyping people with money and there lifestyle. Also it would make the target audience a lot smaller, therefore not selling as many. Although people could be of different social classes it doesn’t mean they won’t like the same things and look for similar things in a magazine. My magazine would most probably appeal to those who have social habits of looking out for gigs, event and festivals, as this magazine makes references to these different elements. Also especially as the competition in my magazine is free tickets to Reading festival, which some artists featured in my magazine will attending and playing. The target audience for this magazine would have to include the psychographics of, interested in indie/rock genre of music, upcoming gigs and events, music artists, competitions, the charts, reading interviews, the ‘celeb gossip’, reviews, and tours.