Monday, 20 April 2009
Friday, 3 April 2009
(7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Finished Product:
Preliminary magazine:
From my preliminary i have gained more skills and have learned more about the differnt programs that I had to use. I also learned more about making a detailed time plan and how important this is to finishing on time. In the preliminary we did not have as much to do i finished this it in the time frame. On the actual project i did nearly run out of time as i was still finishing my work on the day of the production deadline. For the research and planning i found that i handed that in on the day before as i was able to manage my time efficently. For the premliminary i did not do an as detailed plan as for the actual. I think that this plan did help me to use my time more efficently as there was lots of wotk that needed doing. However I think that i could have made a more specified plan to make sure that i completed the production work more ahead of the deadline to ensure that everything was finished completely. One thing that I think that i improved more on was understanding the importance of the target audience and the effect that it has on the magazine.
Preliminary magazine:
From my preliminary i have gained more skills and have learned more about the differnt programs that I had to use. I also learned more about making a detailed time plan and how important this is to finishing on time. In the preliminary we did not have as much to do i finished this it in the time frame. On the actual project i did nearly run out of time as i was still finishing my work on the day of the production deadline. For the research and planning i found that i handed that in on the day before as i was able to manage my time efficently. For the premliminary i did not do an as detailed plan as for the actual. I think that this plan did help me to use my time more efficently as there was lots of wotk that needed doing. However I think that i could have made a more specified plan to make sure that i completed the production work more ahead of the deadline to ensure that everything was finished completely. One thing that I think that i improved more on was understanding the importance of the target audience and the effect that it has on the magazine.
Friday, 27 March 2009
(6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From making my magazine I have learnt a lot about the different types of processes involved in creating a magazine such as the software and programmes used to create the media product. From my preliminary print project I became more confident with using Adobe Photo Shop and Quark Express, which were the programmes that I used to make my magazine cover, contents and double page spread. I was not very confident before when using photo shop but became more accustomed to using the tools as I worked through the production stage. I became more familiar with how to use the different layers to create my pieces and how to move things around the cover. This really benefited the magazine, I think, especially my front cover as I worked out how to emboss my heading and how to create a coloured box for extra information.
I also became more confident when editing my photos as this time i was more precise when using the magnetic laso tool to cut out my photo and defining the colours to make my picture look brighter.
I definately also became more confident using quark express. I struggled with this programme during my preliminary but having to do the double page spread this time, i had to become more familiar with the tools, and i found that the programme was not as difficult as i thought it had been. I was able to easily post in the pictures that i wanted to use and could have a clear layout that would be more easy to read. The use of this proffesional software made my task much easier to complete.
Also i had to use a digital camera to attain my pictures to upload on to these programmes. Using the digital cameras gave me a good clean image to use.
From these technological adavnces it gives amateurs and media students the means to produce magazines that look modern and professional. Being able to use programmes like photoshop and Quark allow to to create a cover page with all the features of established magazines such as proffesional looking pictures and the large masthead with coverlines around the outside of the page.
Using new technologies like the internet helped me as from this i was able to do my research and planning and get a good look at what proffesional magazines look like and incorporate these with my own ideas. As well as this i was able to access sites like youtube, from which i was able to get examples of work and also post my preliminary video task and embed it into my blog. By using the interent i was able to use blogger to create my blog in order to keep track of all of my work an dmy progress. We all started using blogger when we started the course, which meant that we had all of the old research and our preliminary projects to look back at. I found that this really helped as all of my work was in the same place and could be clearly shown and accessed. Also by using blogger i feel that all of my work, like my research and planning and evaluation, has been displayed neatly and in a way that is easy and clear to see. It has also allowed me to post images that back up my research and help to present all of my work.
I also became more confident when editing my photos as this time i was more precise when using the magnetic laso tool to cut out my photo and defining the colours to make my picture look brighter.
I definately also became more confident using quark express. I struggled with this programme during my preliminary but having to do the double page spread this time, i had to become more familiar with the tools, and i found that the programme was not as difficult as i thought it had been. I was able to easily post in the pictures that i wanted to use and could have a clear layout that would be more easy to read. The use of this proffesional software made my task much easier to complete.
Also i had to use a digital camera to attain my pictures to upload on to these programmes. Using the digital cameras gave me a good clean image to use.
From these technological adavnces it gives amateurs and media students the means to produce magazines that look modern and professional. Being able to use programmes like photoshop and Quark allow to to create a cover page with all the features of established magazines such as proffesional looking pictures and the large masthead with coverlines around the outside of the page.
Using new technologies like the internet helped me as from this i was able to do my research and planning and get a good look at what proffesional magazines look like and incorporate these with my own ideas. As well as this i was able to access sites like youtube, from which i was able to get examples of work and also post my preliminary video task and embed it into my blog. By using the interent i was able to use blogger to create my blog in order to keep track of all of my work an dmy progress. We all started using blogger when we started the course, which meant that we had all of the old research and our preliminary projects to look back at. I found that this really helped as all of my work was in the same place and could be clearly shown and accessed. Also by using blogger i feel that all of my work, like my research and planning and evaluation, has been displayed neatly and in a way that is easy and clear to see. It has also allowed me to post images that back up my research and help to present all of my work.
(5) How did you attract your target audience?
In order to attract my target audience (as specified below) i incorporated many styles that I thought would make them aware of the magazine and keep engaged once reading it. On these images i picked out things that I included to make sure that i attracted and held the attention of my targeted reader so that they would buy and enjoy the magazine (to ensure repeated sales).
To attract your target audience, the front cover must be eye catching and engaging as this is what the reader makes their decision on, when deciding to buy the magzine. The coverlines must be intersting and exciting to persuade them to get it.
As well as the points analysed i also included things like 'screamers' which are eyecatching and attract the reader because of the use of exclamation marks. I did this at the very top of my magazine just above the masthead, making it look dominant on the page and grabing the readers attention. Also the strong hard black used makes it stand out against the white background, however it does not over shadow the larger mast head.
.jpg)
I also used features such as 'a main selling point' making the featured image and the largest cover line about the same thing which encourages the audince to buy it because of the story used.
The main tool that i used to attract my target audience was the image used. 'Chantelle' is from a girl band that is aimed at the same audience as my magazine so my readers would be interested in her. Also she is shown as being very glamorous, indicated by the mise-en-scene used and the fact that she is shot in medium long shot, so you can see her confident and dominant 'hand on the hip pose' and highlights what she is wearing. The shine of my jewelery makes the page eyecatching and the reader can see that she is stylish and exciting. The use of this image is used to mainly attract young girls, higlighted also by the colour schemes used, but could also be used to attract young boys who may find her attractive or who are folowers of the magazine and are deicated to buying most issues. The girl featured is also around the same age as the target audience so and is looking directly at them. She is pretty and looks to lead an aspirational example of the 'good life'.
To also attract my reader I used direct address in the coverlines to help the reader to connect with the magazine and to make them think that it is aimed at them, and that the magazine understands you. I also used artists that the target audience would be interested in.
In order to attract my target audience further I could have used a 'puff' like 'the best download magazine of 2008' which i was originally planning to include but out of fear of it looking to cluttered, i decided not to. I could also have used more 'pulls' such as freebies to persuade the reader nd advertise the magazines features. I could have done this by the use of coloured circle in the middle of the page. Lots of magazines use this in order to entice their readers.
I also got some anonormous responses from the other members of my media class. These responses were very important as they were from people that were the right age for the magazine and i could see wether or not i had succeeded in attracting them. The girls seemed to like the magazine and as i expected the boys did not identify with the theme, tone and expression of the magazine. Some of the comments that I got back stated that most people liked the overall look of the magazine; including things like the layout and my use of images. They thought that my images were well taken and edited, especially the one on the front cover and the numerous ones on contents page. Lot of responses also said that it was the cover and the double page spread were clear and eay to read. I was a bit worried about the responses to the contents page, but the majority of them came back positive as people said that they liked that it was 'busy' and that the pictures linked to the articles. which hopefuuly made it easier for the target audience.However many people found my use of colour off putting and suggested that it promoted a very limited target audience as it was very girly. ALso i lot of people said that i should not have used only a purple, black and white in the cover and contents as it made it look 'dull'. Though some people commented that they liked this touch as it made it look really professional.
But from these responses I can see if i managed to attract and engage mainly my target audeince, which were the girls in my class as they are the appropriate age. I think that i was able to attract the girls as on a whole they liked the colour scheme and identified with the coverlines and one person added that from the cover my magazine 'looked interesting, fun and intriguing to read'.
There was a big variation in the 15 or so responses that I had. I think this was because my target audience liked and connected with the magazine and the others didn't. As a result of this i think that the ones that disliked a lot of things e.g. the colour scheme were mainly boys.
(4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience of my magzine would be:
o 15-20
o Predominantly young girls
o Likes going out, having fun
o Loves music; sees music as fun, an escape
o Downloads music to iPod, MP4 player, Phone
o Students
o Hedonists/Materialists
o Glamorous
o Doesn’t go far outside the mainstream
o Not a rebel or individualist follows the standardised way of life
o Listens to commercialised dance, pop and RnB; feel good music
o Listens to Radio1, Kiss.
o Watches 4music, MTV One, e4, itv2
I think that my ideal reader would love chart music like Lady Gaga, Girls Aloud, Akon, all chart toppers signed to major record labels. They are not individualists in the type of music that they listen to and don't like things that are too different. They like safe music that you can listen and party to, like Adorno said; music to depoliticize the masses, that has no real meaning.
They will also be quite materialistic people, who are hedonists and enjoy having fun. However this does not mean that these are the only things that they care about. I see my typical reader as someone who cares about looking good, having fun, and aspiring to be glamorous like the celebrities that they read about. But they know that this is not the most important thing and like listening to music as a way to relax or have fun to.
I would say that the audience will be around B, C1, C2 & D on the Jicnars scale as beind teenagers and students they will not have very much money, just from a part time job, though will probably rely on their parents for expensive gifts such as the iPods featured.
Ideal audience:
This is an image of my target audience. She is a young, fashionable girl, around 17 years of age, who cares about her self image and is interested in modern, commercial chart music. She probably gets most of her music off of the internet and regulary goes out. She most likely listens to radio one, galaxy, brmb, kiss.fm and watches shows like one tree hill, skins, the hills and 90210 on e4 and other shows on itv2 aswell as music channels: mtv one. The reader also probably attends college and has a fair amount of money from a part time job.
The reader, being youthful, will also be full equipped in the digital age and know how to use the Internet to download music and most likely share it with their friends on social networking sites like facebook, or instant messaging on MSN.
You are... fun, friendly, dressed to impress, go out and download music for on the go.
You like... chart music you can have fun to, going out on the town and looking your best.
You need... the latest tunes and the best places to download music.
You watch... and follow music thoroughly.
You want... the hottest new tunes directs to you.
You care... about music but just want something that you can listen and have fun to.
Audience Reactions
I filmed two people, who were both around the specified age group for my magazine; one male and one female. By doing this i hoped to find out what two people of differing genders thought about the style of the magazine and which one would find it more engaging ans wether or not i had succeeded in engaging and attracting my Target audience and to discover what they liked and disliked about my magazine.
The first peron that i filmed was a 16 year old, male, college student who liked the magazine and clearly identified the target audience. He said that he liked the magazine but wasnt really the type of thing that he would read as the issue seemed quite girly however saw that it could be quite easily adapted to suit a more male audience in another issue, as many magazines have different colour schemes when a featured artist has more to do with one gender than the other.
The second video shows a 17 year old girl who very clearly identified with the magazine as she is the ideal targeted audience. She also picked up on the point that this was a predominately female issue but could be changed to suit a wider uni sex audience. She seemed to like the overall magazine and had few complaints about what she was looking at. She correctly guessed the age group that the magazine is designed to and thought that it worked well to attract it, showing that I had been able to successful promote my target audience.
When I asked somebody over the age of targeted audience they correctly guessed that they were not the target audience and also agreed that it was aimed towards 16+. This was predominately because they did not associate with many of the artists on the front page and do not own an iPod/ mp4 player so would not be able to download music.
o 15-20
o Predominantly young girls
o Likes going out, having fun
o Loves music; sees music as fun, an escape
o Downloads music to iPod, MP4 player, Phone
o Students
o Hedonists/Materialists
o Glamorous
o Doesn’t go far outside the mainstream
o Not a rebel or individualist follows the standardised way of life
o Listens to commercialised dance, pop and RnB; feel good music
o Listens to Radio1, Kiss.
o Watches 4music, MTV One, e4, itv2
I think that my ideal reader would love chart music like Lady Gaga, Girls Aloud, Akon, all chart toppers signed to major record labels. They are not individualists in the type of music that they listen to and don't like things that are too different. They like safe music that you can listen and party to, like Adorno said; music to depoliticize the masses, that has no real meaning.
They will also be quite materialistic people, who are hedonists and enjoy having fun. However this does not mean that these are the only things that they care about. I see my typical reader as someone who cares about looking good, having fun, and aspiring to be glamorous like the celebrities that they read about. But they know that this is not the most important thing and like listening to music as a way to relax or have fun to.
I would say that the audience will be around B, C1, C2 & D on the Jicnars scale as beind teenagers and students they will not have very much money, just from a part time job, though will probably rely on their parents for expensive gifts such as the iPods featured.
Ideal audience:
This is an image of my target audience. She is a young, fashionable girl, around 17 years of age, who cares about her self image and is interested in modern, commercial chart music. She probably gets most of her music off of the internet and regulary goes out. She most likely listens to radio one, galaxy, brmb, kiss.fm and watches shows like one tree hill, skins, the hills and 90210 on e4 and other shows on itv2 aswell as music channels: mtv one. The reader also probably attends college and has a fair amount of money from a part time job.
The reader, being youthful, will also be full equipped in the digital age and know how to use the Internet to download music and most likely share it with their friends on social networking sites like facebook, or instant messaging on MSN.
You are... fun, friendly, dressed to impress, go out and download music for on the go.
You like... chart music you can have fun to, going out on the town and looking your best.
You need... the latest tunes and the best places to download music.
You watch... and follow music thoroughly.
You want... the hottest new tunes directs to you.
You care... about music but just want something that you can listen and have fun to.
Audience Reactions
I filmed two people, who were both around the specified age group for my magazine; one male and one female. By doing this i hoped to find out what two people of differing genders thought about the style of the magazine and which one would find it more engaging ans wether or not i had succeeded in engaging and attracting my Target audience and to discover what they liked and disliked about my magazine.
The first peron that i filmed was a 16 year old, male, college student who liked the magazine and clearly identified the target audience. He said that he liked the magazine but wasnt really the type of thing that he would read as the issue seemed quite girly however saw that it could be quite easily adapted to suit a more male audience in another issue, as many magazines have different colour schemes when a featured artist has more to do with one gender than the other.
The second video shows a 17 year old girl who very clearly identified with the magazine as she is the ideal targeted audience. She also picked up on the point that this was a predominately female issue but could be changed to suit a wider uni sex audience. She seemed to like the overall magazine and had few complaints about what she was looking at. She correctly guessed the age group that the magazine is designed to and thought that it worked well to attract it, showing that I had been able to successful promote my target audience.
When I asked somebody over the age of targeted audience they correctly guessed that they were not the target audience and also agreed that it was aimed towards 16+. This was predominately because they did not associate with many of the artists on the front page and do not own an iPod/ mp4 player so would not be able to download music.
(3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As stated in my research and planning I think that the best kind of publisher for this magazine would be one that has other magazines on the UK market but does not have one of similar style and one approaching the same target audience. To publish my magazine I chose ‘Dennis Publishing’ as they have lots of magazines on the US and UK market. Many of these magazines are successful and very dominant in UK stores nationwide. They currently publish some music magazines in the UK but only one that focuses on independent music from independent labels and producers. They have more mainstream magazines in the US. Magazines that publish are: IT Pro, Mac User, Maxim, Auto Express, Computer Shopper, Custom PC, PC Pro, Viz, Fortean Times, Poker Player, Monkey, Bizarre, The Week, Octane magazine and Evo Magazine. I picked ‘Dennis Publishing’ because it does not have a music magazine aimed at this target audience, in the market and they want to launch one so they can hold a larger proportion of the UK market.
In regards to where my magazine will be distributed I think that the most ideal locations would be in supermarkets, news agents and high street stores like WHSmith. Supermarkets like Tesco, Morrisons and Asda would be good locations as they will be placed near to housing estates where teenagers would not have to go far to get their copy. Also these are places that young people usually have to visit anyway so they can easily get it. Also high street stores are a good idea as teenagers are always in town, in large groups with their friends. This way they will be able to get the magazine whilst shopping and also promote ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising which might get their friends interested as well.
As the magazine is aimed at those of 15-20 in age, they are fully equipped to use the internet to buy the magazine. It could be available online at sites like Amazon, or could be brought through membership on the magazine’s own web page and sent to their homes by mail. Or you could just pay to read the magazine online, which would be more environmentally friendly. Also many students could read the magazine allowing it to be sold in university campuses or in news agents of local towns. Because the magazine is mainly low-order and aimed at young adults it probably would not be available to buy in stores like Waitrose or Marks and Spencer or House of Fraser as these are higher class stores and my magazine only targets those who are lower than a B on the Jicnars scale.
(2) How does your product represent particular social groups?
I aimed to target specific people with my magzines and by doing this i showed different the different social groups which exist within our society. I showed them by the style in which I adopted and the images that i used. These social groups were things like gender, disability, teenagers and the law.
These images for example could construe the ways in which my magazine represents gender. This Power Point presentation shows how my magzine represented these groups:
These images for example could construe the ways in which my magazine represents gender. This Power Point presentation shows how my magzine represented these groups:
AS MEDIA COURSEWORK EVALUATION
View more presentations from guest1bdbd07.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
MEDIA COURSEWORK- EVALUATION: (1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My magazine has some typical features of a published magazine as it includes the similar ideas of only including one main photo on the cover and follows the same conventions of typicallayout with the large masthead and coverlines to attract and entice the reader so that they want to buy the magazine. It also has straplines to convey the features of the articles promoted, aswell as as barcode and the price and issue number.
The price of the magazine at £2.90 is fairly reasonable for this type of magazine because it has a teenage audience so I thought that it would be a good idea to have a price that is between the price of a child's and a adult magzine. Magazines like 'Q', 'Rolling Stones' and 'Mixmag' are generally all around £3. However as this magazine is for teens that are just slightly younger the price reflects the destined age group. I included the website, which most music magazines actually advertise, as it reflects the digital age in which we live in. Also 'Input' is a download magzine and a lot of the articles feature online conventions, and the readers are encouraged to go online for further information and the free downloads as publicised on the cover.
My magazine cover also has only a few colours, which is one of the things that I decided to encorportaed from my reasearch and planning. I chose to use purple as I wanted this issue to be quite girly as the image used and the featured artciles are more inclined towards a female audience, and the colour chose exagerates this. However purple can be construed as not being entirely girly and some males might want to buy the issue if they are a dedicated reader.
Aswell as these features, the language used is also quite conventional as it modern and reflects the style of similar magazines on the market. However it is adapted to suit its teenage audience. Also the language is suited to fit in with the download theme such as '... on your Ipod'. The tone is calm and fun which I tried to ashow throughout the fonts used. I chose a bold font for the masthead and the coverlines and then a slightly thinner font 'Arial Narrow' for my coverlines so the whole cover was not in a hard font.
The contents page and double page spread also incorporate conventions as the layout is again similar; including pictures with captions and images with numbers to relate to the featured article. On the contents page the text and images are split up and segreagated to differnt sides. It also has the month of issue and the contents heading.The language is also modern which attracts the target audience and is reminiscent of magazines aimed at this market. The double page spread has a large heading to attract the reader about features, which all magazines include.
Another typical feature used is on the double spread there are page numbers and at the top is a sign saying 'INPUT EXCLUSIVE'. This feature is adopted my most magazines on the market. I decided to put these boxes in as it makes the spread easy to find and gives it a professional look and also emphasises the importance of the spread to the magazine to the reader as it is an 'Exclusive'. At first i did not plan on putting one of these in, but the idea came to me when i thought that the background looked to boring and that there was not enough colour on the two pages. When i first put this in, i made a mistake and put it on the wrong side of the first page. I then had to quickly change this which meant that i had to re-do the stars. However I think that it improved the overall look of my double page spread.
The double page spread on a whole probably took the most time to complete as it was the biggets task. The language used was modern and remiscent of magazines today.
It is similar to existing magazines by means of the layout and the heading used. When compared to this spread from a real music magazine you can see that the overall conventions are realistically the same, though the style and content are very different. The one side is mainly taken up by the picture with the text separated to the other page. However there is alot less text but obly one colour is used again.
Aswell as being similar to magazines that are already on the market it is different in the following ways; the front cover has aplus box which has a coloured box as the background. This feature is not very common on music magazines and is mainly used in other themed magazines. Also there is a plain white background and no other images used.
Also on the contents page the text and the pictures are separated by a purple box splitting the page into. This also makes the magazine have a younger feel to it as it makes it easier to navigate around.
On the whole my magazine does not really challenge any conventions of modern, existing magazines. Though it has slight differences and changes and develops certain points it follows the same mainstream layout, choice of images and headings as this is what generally makes a magazine sucessful and attractive to its audience.
When i first started my magazine I had lots of ideas on how i wanted it to look and how i wanted to design it, based on existing magazines. I took the points that I had gathered from looking at my research and planning and used them to formulate the structure and content for my magazine. However many of my ideas changed as i started t produce my magazine. At first i planned to have a higher target audince and I designed my entire front cover to suit this. I decided that i would also have a female group on the front. But i changed this because in the end i only wanted one person on the cover to be the featured artist and i then felt that the style of my magazine would be better suited for a slighlty lower targeted age. These changes were based on evidence from existing magazaines featured in my research and planning.
The price of the magazine at £2.90 is fairly reasonable for this type of magazine because it has a teenage audience so I thought that it would be a good idea to have a price that is between the price of a child's and a adult magzine. Magazines like 'Q', 'Rolling Stones' and 'Mixmag' are generally all around £3. However as this magazine is for teens that are just slightly younger the price reflects the destined age group. I included the website, which most music magazines actually advertise, as it reflects the digital age in which we live in. Also 'Input' is a download magzine and a lot of the articles feature online conventions, and the readers are encouraged to go online for further information and the free downloads as publicised on the cover.
My magazine cover also has only a few colours, which is one of the things that I decided to encorportaed from my reasearch and planning. I chose to use purple as I wanted this issue to be quite girly as the image used and the featured artciles are more inclined towards a female audience, and the colour chose exagerates this. However purple can be construed as not being entirely girly and some males might want to buy the issue if they are a dedicated reader.
Aswell as these features, the language used is also quite conventional as it modern and reflects the style of similar magazines on the market. However it is adapted to suit its teenage audience. Also the language is suited to fit in with the download theme such as '... on your Ipod'. The tone is calm and fun which I tried to ashow throughout the fonts used. I chose a bold font for the masthead and the coverlines and then a slightly thinner font 'Arial Narrow' for my coverlines so the whole cover was not in a hard font.
The contents page and double page spread also incorporate conventions as the layout is again similar; including pictures with captions and images with numbers to relate to the featured article. On the contents page the text and images are split up and segreagated to differnt sides. It also has the month of issue and the contents heading.The language is also modern which attracts the target audience and is reminiscent of magazines aimed at this market. The double page spread has a large heading to attract the reader about features, which all magazines include.
Another typical feature used is on the double spread there are page numbers and at the top is a sign saying 'INPUT EXCLUSIVE'. This feature is adopted my most magazines on the market. I decided to put these boxes in as it makes the spread easy to find and gives it a professional look and also emphasises the importance of the spread to the magazine to the reader as it is an 'Exclusive'. At first i did not plan on putting one of these in, but the idea came to me when i thought that the background looked to boring and that there was not enough colour on the two pages. When i first put this in, i made a mistake and put it on the wrong side of the first page. I then had to quickly change this which meant that i had to re-do the stars. However I think that it improved the overall look of my double page spread.
The double page spread on a whole probably took the most time to complete as it was the biggets task. The language used was modern and remiscent of magazines today.
It is similar to existing magazines by means of the layout and the heading used. When compared to this spread from a real music magazine you can see that the overall conventions are realistically the same, though the style and content are very different. The one side is mainly taken up by the picture with the text separated to the other page. However there is alot less text but obly one colour is used again.
Aswell as being similar to magazines that are already on the market it is different in the following ways; the front cover has aplus box which has a coloured box as the background. This feature is not very common on music magazines and is mainly used in other themed magazines. Also there is a plain white background and no other images used.
Also on the contents page the text and the pictures are separated by a purple box splitting the page into. This also makes the magazine have a younger feel to it as it makes it easier to navigate around.
On the whole my magazine does not really challenge any conventions of modern, existing magazines. Though it has slight differences and changes and develops certain points it follows the same mainstream layout, choice of images and headings as this is what generally makes a magazine sucessful and attractive to its audience.
When i first started my magazine I had lots of ideas on how i wanted it to look and how i wanted to design it, based on existing magazines. I took the points that I had gathered from looking at my research and planning and used them to formulate the structure and content for my magazine. However many of my ideas changed as i started t produce my magazine. At first i planned to have a higher target audince and I designed my entire front cover to suit this. I decided that i would also have a female group on the front. But i changed this because in the end i only wanted one person on the cover to be the featured artist and i then felt that the style of my magazine would be better suited for a slighlty lower targeted age. These changes were based on evidence from existing magazaines featured in my research and planning.
Friday, 6 March 2009
MEDIA COURSEWORK: Production, front cover
I have just finished producing my front cover. It is slightly different than I originally wanted it to be as I had decided that I wanted it to feature an image of girl band however I changed it so that it has an image of a female artist.
Friday, 13 February 2009
MEDIA COURSEWORK: Magazine Layout Plans
Cover
-New Girl band/ artist (main image)
-Big masthead
-Straplines and coverlines detailing what will be in the magazine with smaller images
Contents
-Main images with smaller ones
-Articles and pages divided into categories e.g. cover features
-Captions and labels to associate images with featured pages
Double page spread
-Interview with new girl band/ artist featured on the front cover
-Main image on one of the pages with text on the other with smaller images embedded into the text
-Interview by means of a Q and A session starting off with prose about the band and their music
OR
-Download special. Is CD buying a thing of the past?
-New Girl band/ artist (main image)
-Big masthead
-Straplines and coverlines detailing what will be in the magazine with smaller images
Contents
-Main images with smaller ones
-Articles and pages divided into categories e.g. cover features
-Captions and labels to associate images with featured pages
Double page spread
-Interview with new girl band/ artist featured on the front cover
-Main image on one of the pages with text on the other with smaller images embedded into the text
-Interview by means of a Q and A session starting off with prose about the band and their music
OR
-Download special. Is CD buying a thing of the past?
MEDIA COURSEWORK: Photo Shoots Plans
Photo shoots
Date of first shoot: Friday 13th February
Half term week: Tuesday 17th February
Personal: Friends dressed up as new band
Mise- en- scene:
Clothing: Dressy, made up, jewellery (Cover, spread)
Props: Microphones
Lighting: Bright, to be placed against black background
Proxemics: Close together, casual expressions, having fun
Date of first shoot: Friday 13th February
Half term week: Tuesday 17th February
Personal: Friends dressed up as new band
Mise- en- scene:
Clothing: Dressy, made up, jewellery (Cover, spread)
Props: Microphones
Lighting: Bright, to be placed against black background
Proxemics: Close together, casual expressions, having fun
MEDIA COURSEWORK: Detailed Audience Profile
Detailed Audience Profile
16-22
Likes going out clubbing, having fun
Sees music as fun, an escape
Downloads music to iPod, MP4 player, Phone
Students
Hedonists/Materialists
Glamour
Commercialised dance, pop and RnB; feel good music
Listens to Radio1, Kiss. Watches 4music, MTV One
16-22
Likes going out clubbing, having fun
Sees music as fun, an escape
Downloads music to iPod, MP4 player, Phone
Students
Hedonists/Materialists
Glamour
Commercialised dance, pop and RnB; feel good music
Listens to Radio1, Kiss. Watches 4music, MTV One
Sunday, 1 February 2009
MEDIA COURSEWORK: Research and Planning
For my media AS coursework I have opted to do print and to create a music magazine based on a mixture of different music aimed at young adults who are around 16-23 years old. In order to produce my magazine I have carried out numerous types of research into music magazines. The mise-en-scene and the camera techniques will be essential for the development of my magazine pages especially the front cover as this is what attracts readers to the magazine and encourages them to read it. This means that the key images, colours and the masthead are very important and must be appealing to the target audience.
Looking at my research on existing magazines you can see that on this example the cover is very bright and eye catching making it attractive to the reader. The key image is of a famous celebrity (Cameron Diaz) who is the main focus of the cover as the mast head is situated behind her and the straplines are around her. She is shot in medium long shot which indicates the mise-en-scene of the cover such as her glamorous outfit which appeals to the target audience as they are aspirers and materialists who care about appearance and glamour. This is connoted as being important and highlights this way of life such as partying and the dominant ideology that fashion, appearance and the celebrity life style is vital, which are important to my target audience. Also the colours used are minimal and the blue used for the mast head and the coverlines off sets the costume of the model creating a fairly relaxed and sophisticated genre. From looking at this cover of a fashion magazine I have decided to incorporate the quite minimalist style and the idea of using only a few colours and having a single colour background.
For other stages of my research I decided to look in more detail at the covers of music magazines. I looked at the covers of Q, NME and Mixmag. This cover of ‘Blender’ shows Leona Lewis shot in long shot again highlighting her style of dress. Also her position connotes her as being sexy as she does not smile only pout. The colours used in this magazine are bright and the font red is used in comparison to her black outfit.
Red is always an influential colour to use on a cover as it is the first colour that your eye sees. The background again is white and plain giving all the attention to the model. This function is used quite frequently as many magazines adopt this approach with only a few exclusions such as this cover of ‘Rave’ magazine which features a patterned floral background which is very modern at the moment.
However these magazines connote fun and both have a female musician on the cover.
On the other hand this magazine cover adopts a more sombre tone, as the black background and the intense facial expressions of the model (Madonna) connotes a more serious mood and you get the impression that this is a more serious and direct magazine. The fonts used in most of the magazines that I have looked at have been in bright, minimal colours and have been engineered so that they stand out against the key image and the background attracting the reader to the main points and best cover
stories. In this case the headline ‘Madonna’ is capitalised in a sans serif font which instantly attracts and engages the reader as it is the first thing that you see when you look at the page.
One thing that I have noticed on my research is that many of the magazines which I have looked at have an image of a female music artist on them. By having woman on the front men and women will both be interested in the magazine as the women find them inspirational and the men see them as being attractive e.g. rave magazine featuring Fergie. Having a woman on the cover encourages the emergent ideology that
women are now equal to men. This cover of remix however features the image of two men. By doing this more men would probably be inclined to purchase this issue.
From my research I have decided that I will incorporate many of the features that I have highlighted from my research. The main genre of my magazine will be designed around a mixture of different chart music, which is mainly main stream, and for this theme I have decided to use the minimalist approach which lots of classy music magazines have chosen. By doing this it will have a clear target audience for teenagers and young adults around 16-23 who have outgrown younger music magazines and want something that is more grown up and structured, opposed to the cluttered and bright covers of childhood favourites like ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine or the recently disbanded ‘Smash Hits’, which was stopped in 2006. My audience will be around B, C1, C2 and D on the Jicnars scale.
My magazine will also be designed for an audience of mixed gender as I aim to create a magazine which will appeal to both male and female, but mainly female as I want to combined music with fashion and glamour, so that it appeal to a larger target market. I want to do this by keeping the main magazine on music but having over influences such as fashion for clubbing and have interviews with famous musicians, bands and singers and pose them as interesting and inspirational people.
For my cover I have decided that it will be minimal and not over crowded with lots of images. I will feature one main image of a new band and the photo will be shot in long shot to show the clothing that the band is wearing and connote fun and aspiration. The background will be a single colour either black or white and have the masthead, headlines and featured coverlines in bright, bold and eye catching colours like reds, pinks or yellows in order to grab the attention of the reader and engage them. My masthead will be in sans serif font and will take up around a quarter of the page. I will also have lots of cover lines around the edges of the cover as I think that they advertise what is going to be inside of the magazine and encourage people to buy them.
For the contents page I will carry on with the same style and will feature more pictures than on the cover which will be captioned or labelled showing the audience what pages they are linked to. These images of magazine contents pages are very suited to their genre and purpose appealing to the target audience. There are also only three or four colours used and.
again have a plain white background. One is more serious than the other and this is connoted by the use of serif fonts and pale colours with black and white images which gives the impression that the target audience is older people who are interested in classical music.
For my double page spread I have decided that I am going to do a feature on a new band by means of a Q and A session. I will fill most the first page with a main image and this will be the same band that I have featured on the cover.
In order to see how my magazine could be introduced into the market I looked at different publishing companies. From the magazines that I have researched many of them are published by big publishing companies, not independent companies as they are all fairly commercial. I have decided that my magazine will also be published by this sort of company as it is main stream and targets a fairly commercial and mixed audience. The company publishing the magazine will be ‘Dennis Publishing’. It has many magazines in the UK such as IT Pro, MacUser, Maxim, Auto Express, Computer Shopper, Custom PC, PC Pro, Viz, Fortean Times, PokerPlayer, Monkey, Bizarre, The Week, Octane magazine and Evo Magazine, but does not have a music magazine aimed at this target audience, in the market and they want to launch one so they can hold a larger proportion of the UK market. They only have 'Bizarre' which is an independant, non-commercial music magazine.
Time Plan
Deadline 1: 2nd February 2009- Research and Planning
Deadline 2: 18th March 2009- Production
Deadline 3: 3rd April 2009- Evaluation
Deadline 2: PRODUCTION
WB 2nd February- Decide on personal, props and what will be on the cover page
(Half term) 16th February- Take pictures for main cover, contents page and double page spread
23rd February - Think up possible articles for cover lines and contents page
23rd February - Begin designing cover: headline, masthead and colours and backgrounds
2nd March - Write featured article for double page spread
9th March - Collate and finishing touches on Adobe Photoshop and Quark Express
Deadline 3: EVALUATION
- After submitting finished piece finish with evaluation of work
Looking at my research on existing magazines you can see that on this example the cover is very bright and eye catching making it attractive to the reader. The key image is of a famous celebrity (Cameron Diaz) who is the main focus of the cover as the mast head is situated behind her and the straplines are around her. She is shot in medium long shot which indicates the mise-en-scene of the cover such as her glamorous outfit which appeals to the target audience as they are aspirers and materialists who care about appearance and glamour. This is connoted as being important and highlights this way of life such as partying and the dominant ideology that fashion, appearance and the celebrity life style is vital, which are important to my target audience. Also the colours used are minimal and the blue used for the mast head and the coverlines off sets the costume of the model creating a fairly relaxed and sophisticated genre. From looking at this cover of a fashion magazine I have decided to incorporate the quite minimalist style and the idea of using only a few colours and having a single colour background.
For other stages of my research I decided to look in more detail at the covers of music magazines. I looked at the covers of Q, NME and Mixmag. This cover of ‘Blender’ shows Leona Lewis shot in long shot again highlighting her style of dress. Also her position connotes her as being sexy as she does not smile only pout. The colours used in this magazine are bright and the font red is used in comparison to her black outfit.
Red is always an influential colour to use on a cover as it is the first colour that your eye sees. The background again is white and plain giving all the attention to the model. This function is used quite frequently as many magazines adopt this approach with only a few exclusions such as this cover of ‘Rave’ magazine which features a patterned floral background which is very modern at the moment.
However these magazines connote fun and both have a female musician on the cover. On the other hand this magazine cover adopts a more sombre tone, as the black background and the intense facial expressions of the model (Madonna) connotes a more serious mood and you get the impression that this is a more serious and direct magazine. The fonts used in most of the magazines that I have looked at have been in bright, minimal colours and have been engineered so that they stand out against the key image and the background attracting the reader to the main points and best cover
stories. In this case the headline ‘Madonna’ is capitalised in a sans serif font which instantly attracts and engages the reader as it is the first thing that you see when you look at the page. One thing that I have noticed on my research is that many of the magazines which I have looked at have an image of a female music artist on them. By having woman on the front men and women will both be interested in the magazine as the women find them inspirational and the men see them as being attractive e.g. rave magazine featuring Fergie. Having a woman on the cover encourages the emergent ideology that
women are now equal to men. This cover of remix however features the image of two men. By doing this more men would probably be inclined to purchase this issue.From my research I have decided that I will incorporate many of the features that I have highlighted from my research. The main genre of my magazine will be designed around a mixture of different chart music, which is mainly main stream, and for this theme I have decided to use the minimalist approach which lots of classy music magazines have chosen. By doing this it will have a clear target audience for teenagers and young adults around 16-23 who have outgrown younger music magazines and want something that is more grown up and structured, opposed to the cluttered and bright covers of childhood favourites like ‘Top of the Pops’ magazine or the recently disbanded ‘Smash Hits’, which was stopped in 2006. My audience will be around B, C1, C2 and D on the Jicnars scale.
My magazine will also be designed for an audience of mixed gender as I aim to create a magazine which will appeal to both male and female, but mainly female as I want to combined music with fashion and glamour, so that it appeal to a larger target market. I want to do this by keeping the main magazine on music but having over influences such as fashion for clubbing and have interviews with famous musicians, bands and singers and pose them as interesting and inspirational people.
For my cover I have decided that it will be minimal and not over crowded with lots of images. I will feature one main image of a new band and the photo will be shot in long shot to show the clothing that the band is wearing and connote fun and aspiration. The background will be a single colour either black or white and have the masthead, headlines and featured coverlines in bright, bold and eye catching colours like reds, pinks or yellows in order to grab the attention of the reader and engage them. My masthead will be in sans serif font and will take up around a quarter of the page. I will also have lots of cover lines around the edges of the cover as I think that they advertise what is going to be inside of the magazine and encourage people to buy them.
For the contents page I will carry on with the same style and will feature more pictures than on the cover which will be captioned or labelled showing the audience what pages they are linked to. These images of magazine contents pages are very suited to their genre and purpose appealing to the target audience. There are also only three or four colours used and.
again have a plain white background. One is more serious than the other and this is connoted by the use of serif fonts and pale colours with black and white images which gives the impression that the target audience is older people who are interested in classical music.For my double page spread I have decided that I am going to do a feature on a new band by means of a Q and A session. I will fill most the first page with a main image and this will be the same band that I have featured on the cover.
In order to see how my magazine could be introduced into the market I looked at different publishing companies. From the magazines that I have researched many of them are published by big publishing companies, not independent companies as they are all fairly commercial. I have decided that my magazine will also be published by this sort of company as it is main stream and targets a fairly commercial and mixed audience. The company publishing the magazine will be ‘Dennis Publishing’. It has many magazines in the UK such as IT Pro, MacUser, Maxim, Auto Express, Computer Shopper, Custom PC, PC Pro, Viz, Fortean Times, PokerPlayer, Monkey, Bizarre, The Week, Octane magazine and Evo Magazine, but does not have a music magazine aimed at this target audience, in the market and they want to launch one so they can hold a larger proportion of the UK market. They only have 'Bizarre' which is an independant, non-commercial music magazine.
Time Plan
Deadline 1: 2nd February 2009- Research and Planning
Deadline 2: 18th March 2009- Production
Deadline 3: 3rd April 2009- Evaluation
Deadline 2: PRODUCTION
WB 2nd February- Decide on personal, props and what will be on the cover page
(Half term) 16th February- Take pictures for main cover, contents page and double page spread
23rd February - Think up possible articles for cover lines and contents page
23rd February - Begin designing cover: headline, masthead and colours and backgrounds
2nd March - Write featured article for double page spread
9th March - Collate and finishing touches on Adobe Photoshop and Quark Express
Deadline 3: EVALUATION
- After submitting finished piece finish with evaluation of work
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Monday, 8 December 2008
Film Opening
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JXq9ZL6kcD8
Sex and The City
When watching this opening scene you would want to continue watching because the mood created is exciting and there is a variety of enigma codes. There is a glamorous and feminime atmosphere created by a choice of colours and fast paced establishment shots, some of which concentrate on the characters and New York City. This appeals to the target audince and the sequence of flash backs engages you into the sex and the city lifestyle making you want to continue watching. The genre of 'rom-com' is clearly identified at the very start by the characters and the use of bright pink font. The music is also funky and up beat and the beats were timed in with the cuts making it flow efficently.
The use of mise-en-secene also engages the audience and is is aimed at the target audience, such as the costumes and outfits are outlined as 'labels' and the characters become idols due to their glamorous appearance. The setting is also made to seem glamorous by the establishment and high angle shots of the city and the fast paced editing when showing The Brooklyn Bridge.
Sex and The City
When watching this opening scene you would want to continue watching because the mood created is exciting and there is a variety of enigma codes. There is a glamorous and feminime atmosphere created by a choice of colours and fast paced establishment shots, some of which concentrate on the characters and New York City. This appeals to the target audince and the sequence of flash backs engages you into the sex and the city lifestyle making you want to continue watching. The genre of 'rom-com' is clearly identified at the very start by the characters and the use of bright pink font. The music is also funky and up beat and the beats were timed in with the cuts making it flow efficently.
The use of mise-en-secene also engages the audience and is is aimed at the target audience, such as the costumes and outfits are outlined as 'labels' and the characters become idols due to their glamorous appearance. The setting is also made to seem glamorous by the establishment and high angle shots of the city and the fast paced editing when showing The Brooklyn Bridge.
Magazine covers
All the magazines we looked have the name/logo of the magazine clearly visable, sometimes taking up 1/4 of the front page. This logo is one colour contrasting against the background. Most of the pages have a one colour or simple background with a picture that stands out against this. the font used is one or two colours usually the same as the name of the magazine. The pages are often divided into sections enabling the reader to easily navigate around and see what articles are featured in the magazine. There is often one article which is larger than the rest and is usually bigger and in a different font as this is the featured article and is normally in response to the picture. The cover's theme, colours and choice of layout appeals to the target audience.
From looking at these magazines we could incorporate the use of minimal colours e.g. in the name or logo and cut down on the amount of text used.
From looking at these magazines we could incorporate the use of minimal colours e.g. in the name or logo and cut down on the amount of text used.
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
Video Evaluation
Preliminary Video Coursework
Evaluation
1. What have you learned about Adobe Premiere and DV Cameras? What difficulties did you face with the technology and how did you solve them?
It was hard when filming as you can to make sure that your shots conincided with the rules of the 180 degree rule and match on action. When we finished filming we moved on to the editing suite which I found was very complicated as it was difficult to get all the shots to match up giving a smooth flow. It was also quite difficult to capture the shots that we wanted to use as sometimes the beginning or the end of a shot were cut off but on several occasions we did not realise this until we came to put all the shots together. We also had some difficulties with our sound as we decided to film outside, which we found music would not cover. Also when we came to put together the shots of the door scene together we could not get it to run smoothly and had to simplify it so that it matched.
2. How straightforward was continuity editing? Was it harder than you thought it would be? Do you think your final product is good enough, or could it be improved?
Continuity editing was much harder than I thought that it was going to be, It was hard stringing all the shots together making sure that the shots matched eachother. Our film could have been improved as some of our shots did not match up as best as they could of especially when our actor is walking away after reciving text message. This is because out camera had the 'fade' settings on so we had to cut parts of the end.
3. What would you do differently if you were to produce another film?
I probably would not have filmed outside as the wind sometimes could be heard in the background. Also I would have found some better sound effects but this was difficult as we did not have a lot of time to find some music that matched as we took a long time to finish editing.
Evaluation
1. What have you learned about Adobe Premiere and DV Cameras? What difficulties did you face with the technology and how did you solve them?
It was hard when filming as you can to make sure that your shots conincided with the rules of the 180 degree rule and match on action. When we finished filming we moved on to the editing suite which I found was very complicated as it was difficult to get all the shots to match up giving a smooth flow. It was also quite difficult to capture the shots that we wanted to use as sometimes the beginning or the end of a shot were cut off but on several occasions we did not realise this until we came to put all the shots together. We also had some difficulties with our sound as we decided to film outside, which we found music would not cover. Also when we came to put together the shots of the door scene together we could not get it to run smoothly and had to simplify it so that it matched.
2. How straightforward was continuity editing? Was it harder than you thought it would be? Do you think your final product is good enough, or could it be improved?
Continuity editing was much harder than I thought that it was going to be, It was hard stringing all the shots together making sure that the shots matched eachother. Our film could have been improved as some of our shots did not match up as best as they could of especially when our actor is walking away after reciving text message. This is because out camera had the 'fade' settings on so we had to cut parts of the end.
3. What would you do differently if you were to produce another film?
I probably would not have filmed outside as the wind sometimes could be heard in the background. Also I would have found some better sound effects but this was difficult as we did not have a lot of time to find some music that matched as we took a long time to finish editing.
Monday, 20 October 2008
Film Production: 180 degree rule and match on action
We are now moving on to film production. In order to make our short films we must know about match on action and the 180 degree rule.
Match on action is when you must have the two actions the same in both shots when you are cutting e.g. open door has to be the same width or eye line has to match.
The 180 degree rule is when you can only have cameras on one side of the actors. You are able to move the camera anywhere along the 180 degrees but cannot pass over the line or else this will not match e.g. if you have two people in a shot, with one on the right and one on the left you cannot change sides or else the people will be on the other sides and their eyes will not be looking in the same direction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBPw9C57TuU
Match on action is when you must have the two actions the same in both shots when you are cutting e.g. open door has to be the same width or eye line has to match.
The 180 degree rule is when you can only have cameras on one side of the actors. You are able to move the camera anywhere along the 180 degrees but cannot pass over the line or else this will not match e.g. if you have two people in a shot, with one on the right and one on the left you cannot change sides or else the people will be on the other sides and their eyes will not be looking in the same direction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBPw9C57TuU
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Magazine Cover/Contents Evaluation
1. Who were your target audience? How did you ensure that you addressed them? Were you able to communicate to your audience effectively?
My target audience was female students aged 16-20 who were interested in fashion and wanted to know the best shops to get the latest styles at high street prices. They also wanted to beauty tips as well as advice services, real life stories and information about lifestyle and staying healthy. I addressed the specific needs of this audience by making sure that I included articles and headlines that were aimed towards this group which they would find interesting and appealing. I also used an images on my front cover and contents page which were of people around the same age who they could relate to. I think that I was able to commmunicate to my audience effectively as I used images and vocabulary which were designed and aimed towards this particular audience, my magazine was a resonable prices which would be suitable for a college student and all of my featured fashions were from affodable high street shops.
2. How is your text similar to other magazines? What did you take from other specific magazines? How have you attempted to be original? Was this successful?
My magazine in many ways was similar to some of the top fashion magazines as I was inspired by Elle and Marie Claire. I wanted to create a magazine which was similar in style to these, being fashionable and glamorous, but also conventional and sophisticated way. Magazines such as these are aimed towards professional women who are in the position to buy the type of designer fashions presented in things like Vogue, Marie Claire and Elle, but I wanted to make a magazine which incoroporated these features but was aimed towards a younger, less mature audience who could not affored to buy a magazine costing around £3.50. I think that this approach was successful as I was able to create something that would be appealing to my target audience there is nothing on the market like this at the moment. I myself buy Elle or Marie Claire but I am finding that it is too expensive.
3. If your magazine was real, would it be high or low budget? Where and how would it be distributed? Is your audience large enough to interest a major publisher? If not... how would you raise the money to establish your magazine? Advertising? How might this influence the nature of your text?
If my magazine was real I think that it would be fairly low budget as this is how I wanted my magazine to be as it aimed at college students. But thinking about it to create the magazine itself it would be difficult to do on a limited budget as it needs to include glossy images and articles as well as advertising which could cost a lot to feature. However if the magazine sold advertising it would be able to generate enough money to be sold at a lower, more reasonable price. I am unsure if the magazine would have a large enough audience. But as it is a niche in the market it might be quite popular as nothing like it really exists, so it may be able to create a large fan base. But as there are some similar existing products aimed at the same audience, such as 'Sugar' and slightly older magazines like 'Look' and 'Grazia'.
4. What have you learned about Adobe Photoshop, Quark Xpress and using the digital SLR cameras. What difficulties did you face with the technology and how did you solve them?
I liked using each of the different programmes as they worked well for each of the different stages of the production. I however did not use the SLR digital cameras from the college, as I took my picture outside of college time, However I still got an image that I was happy with. Photoshop was fairly easy to use and allowed me to change my backgrounds, crop my image and cut it out with ease. I also wanted to put on some other images, some of shoes and party dresses. I had difficulties doing this on Quark and then understood that I had to put them on the original image using photoshop. Other than that I did not have many problems using the programmes. On Quark it took me a while to understand how everything worked as it is slightly more complex than photoshop and i struggled trying to find how to get other colours than the given ones.
5. What would you do differently if you were to produce another magazine.
If I was to produce another magazine i would try to make it to target a larger audience not just girls who are interested in fashion and looking good but to those who need some extra help with this. Also there are not many magazines on the market which focus on lifestlye that are available to this audience.
My target audience was female students aged 16-20 who were interested in fashion and wanted to know the best shops to get the latest styles at high street prices. They also wanted to beauty tips as well as advice services, real life stories and information about lifestyle and staying healthy. I addressed the specific needs of this audience by making sure that I included articles and headlines that were aimed towards this group which they would find interesting and appealing. I also used an images on my front cover and contents page which were of people around the same age who they could relate to. I think that I was able to commmunicate to my audience effectively as I used images and vocabulary which were designed and aimed towards this particular audience, my magazine was a resonable prices which would be suitable for a college student and all of my featured fashions were from affodable high street shops.
2. How is your text similar to other magazines? What did you take from other specific magazines? How have you attempted to be original? Was this successful?
My magazine in many ways was similar to some of the top fashion magazines as I was inspired by Elle and Marie Claire. I wanted to create a magazine which was similar in style to these, being fashionable and glamorous, but also conventional and sophisticated way. Magazines such as these are aimed towards professional women who are in the position to buy the type of designer fashions presented in things like Vogue, Marie Claire and Elle, but I wanted to make a magazine which incoroporated these features but was aimed towards a younger, less mature audience who could not affored to buy a magazine costing around £3.50. I think that this approach was successful as I was able to create something that would be appealing to my target audience there is nothing on the market like this at the moment. I myself buy Elle or Marie Claire but I am finding that it is too expensive.
3. If your magazine was real, would it be high or low budget? Where and how would it be distributed? Is your audience large enough to interest a major publisher? If not... how would you raise the money to establish your magazine? Advertising? How might this influence the nature of your text?
If my magazine was real I think that it would be fairly low budget as this is how I wanted my magazine to be as it aimed at college students. But thinking about it to create the magazine itself it would be difficult to do on a limited budget as it needs to include glossy images and articles as well as advertising which could cost a lot to feature. However if the magazine sold advertising it would be able to generate enough money to be sold at a lower, more reasonable price. I am unsure if the magazine would have a large enough audience. But as it is a niche in the market it might be quite popular as nothing like it really exists, so it may be able to create a large fan base. But as there are some similar existing products aimed at the same audience, such as 'Sugar' and slightly older magazines like 'Look' and 'Grazia'.
4. What have you learned about Adobe Photoshop, Quark Xpress and using the digital SLR cameras. What difficulties did you face with the technology and how did you solve them?
I liked using each of the different programmes as they worked well for each of the different stages of the production. I however did not use the SLR digital cameras from the college, as I took my picture outside of college time, However I still got an image that I was happy with. Photoshop was fairly easy to use and allowed me to change my backgrounds, crop my image and cut it out with ease. I also wanted to put on some other images, some of shoes and party dresses. I had difficulties doing this on Quark and then understood that I had to put them on the original image using photoshop. Other than that I did not have many problems using the programmes. On Quark it took me a while to understand how everything worked as it is slightly more complex than photoshop and i struggled trying to find how to get other colours than the given ones.
5. What would you do differently if you were to produce another magazine.
If I was to produce another magazine i would try to make it to target a larger audience not just girls who are interested in fashion and looking good but to those who need some extra help with this. Also there are not many magazines on the market which focus on lifestlye that are available to this audience.
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Magazine Design
I have now begun designing the front cover for my chosen magazine. I have decided on all the articles which will be featured on the front cover and have planned my masthead. All that I have left to do his prepare my picture.
Monday, 22 September 2008
Detailed Audience Profile
Theme: Fashion, Lifestyle Magazine
Age Range: 16-20
Gender: Female
Jichars Scale: A, B, C1, C2
You are...fun, friendly, active and always well groomed- dressed to impress.
You like fashion, having fun, going out on the town and looking your best.
You need the latest fashion styles at high street prices.
You watch and follow fashion throughly.
You want the hottest fashion designs, newest make up tips and news and reviews of books, films and TV.
You care about fashion but you know its more about your lifestyle and looking and feeling your very best.
Age Range: 16-20
Gender: Female
Jichars Scale: A, B, C1, C2
You are...fun, friendly, active and always well groomed- dressed to impress.
You like fashion, having fun, going out on the town and looking your best.
You need the latest fashion styles at high street prices.
You watch and follow fashion throughly.
You want the hottest fashion designs, newest make up tips and news and reviews of books, films and TV.
You care about fashion but you know its more about your lifestyle and looking and feeling your very best.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Links
Links to magazines:
http://www.elle.com/
http://www.teenvogue.com/
From looking at these magazines i have decided that my front cover will incorporate the idea of big bold headings which are one simple colour which corrosponds with the theme of the issuse and to have one main person in the image with the articles displayed around the outside.
http://www.elle.com/
http://www.teenvogue.com/
From looking at these magazines i have decided that my front cover will incorporate the idea of big bold headings which are one simple colour which corrosponds with the theme of the issuse and to have one main person in the image with the articles displayed around the outside.
Monday, 8 September 2008
First Entry
My name is Hanna. For my A levels I am doing Media Studies. Our first project is Magazines. I read many magazines like gossip magazines such as OK. But I mainly read fashion magazines e.g. Look, Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)