an update after my draft sketches

After completeing my draft sketches for my magazine I feel now that I have a clear view of how I want my pages to look. I have tried to design my pages so as not to be basic, yet to also be realistic. I didnt want to design pages that I felt I would not be able to complete, possibly due to a lack of experience or my time limit. I still however hope to much improve and greatly build on my pages further than my sketches.

draft sketches of final pages

importance of audience research

I used a survey making website to make a survey in order to get feedback on ideas regarding a music magazine of my genre. I feel as though audience research is very important as you are finding out what the people who would buy your magazine would want to buy. My questions were multiple choice and i asked ten questions. I asked things such as opinions on what colour scheme i should use, and what title they preferred for my magazine. I also asked questions such as if a magazine included competitions would they enter, seeing as most people voted that they would, i will take this into account and feature the chance to enter a competition on the cover of my magazine. I asked the age of people taking my survey so that i could cater mostly towards the answers of those who fit into my target audience; this mainly being people over the age of sixteen. Overall, i think the survey was very helpful and i will take all the answers into account when designing the elements of my music magazine.

survey answers

a song from my chosen genre

double page spread article text

Below is a copy of the text that will be contained in my double page spread article. There will also be a quote featured on the page regarding his up and coming tours so that people are drawn to read the article and therefore find out about his tour.

Talked about as one of the most unique artists of our year, and with his brand new album ‘guitars and lighters’ out now, we thought it was about time we invited him in for a chat. After a long wait RICKY MOSS is back again with a new album and we are pleased to say that it is better than ever. Keeping it acoustic he wows us all once again with his inspiring lyrics and extremely catchy tunes. Well on its way to reaching this week’s top spot, we highly recommend that if you haven’t already done so, buy it now. The album title GUITARS AND LIGHTERS is now on sale in the itunes library. It has taken him a year to produce and the album has exceeded all of our hopes and expectations. At the young age of only eighteen he is well on his way to being nominated as our young artist of the year. As if the news of the new album wasn’t enough, he has too announced the news of a UK tour. We are thoroughly excited for this as we are you sure you all are too. Tickets for the tour have not yet been released but it is thought they will be out relatively soon. In an interview with him we asked him if he told us that he could never have expected this to have happened to him, he spoke of being eternally grateful to his friends and family, and most of all his fans. We asked Mr Moss what it felt like, journeying through the transition from everyday basic life to all of a sudden being a known face nearly anywhere he visited. Being so successful at such a young age would be exciting and scary for anyone; however Ricky Moss seems to be coping extremely well. He spoke to us greatly about his love for all his family and friends, and most of all wanted to express how grateful he was to have the support from all his fans. Explaining that he knows he wouldn’t be where he is today without them.

costuming and props that will inspire my magazine

The artist in this image is called Jake Bugg, he is a solo artist in the indie-rock genre. He dresses quite stereotypically to the way that one may think someone in this genre dresses. He is dressed all in dark colours which is thought common for someone in this genre. As it will be evident in the other images I will post artists of this genre are very rarely seen wearing bright colours and usually wear colours such as blacks, browns and navy blue. Artists of this genre often appear to show quite a small amount of consideration for the way that they dress and style themselves. His clothes are quite basic and simple and are not of expensive designer brands. As for the hair of these such artists it usually looks as though the style is simple and has not taken much time or preparation to create. The clothes appear possibly quite vintage and retro are often styles that have been around before and are now becoming common once again.

Artists of this genre are usually pictured with a guitar as most of the artists in this genre play their own music. The use of the guitar as a prop, particularly an acoustic guitar as this one is, demonstrates slightly the type of music they play within this genre. In the case of this artist who is a member of this genre, the feature of the guitar demonstrates that he plays acoustic music. I know that this is true seeing as I have listened to his music, however even if I had not it would still be quite apparent.




This image is slightly different as it is of a group of artists, a band called Arctic Monkeys. As I have mentioned in my previous paragraph, the colours of clothes that they are wearing are quite dark and quite dull. Once again it doesn't look as though they have put a lot of time and effort into what they are wearing, and the colours are not attention seeking. They are not clothes that would make them stand out and as members of this music genre that is not usually something that they aim to do. Once again their hairstyles do not look as though they have taken much time and are not the type of artists to ever consider being airbrushed as is now common for people on magazine covers.

Unlike the other image there are no props in this image. Although there is no guitar featured in the image it is still widely known that they are a band of the indie-rock music genre.

examples of costuming and props

a reader profile of a member of my target audience

Jake is 19 and lives in Manchester. He is passionate about music and has been playing in a small band with a group of friends since he was 16. He is a fan of music such as the arctic monkeys and jake bugg, and he admires them as they play their own music,  and write their own lyrics. He works part time while he is not studying at Manchester University, and therefore has the disposable income to buy many albums and music magazines. He likes to find out about new and upcoming artists and hopes to one day follow in their footsteps. He prefers to buy actual cd’s instead of just downloading music online. He likes listening to acoustic songs and goes to many gigs. He uses music magazines to find out about how artists have been newly signed by independant record labels and to read reviews on new albums. He has attended leeds music festival for the past three years and hopes one day to play at a major music festival.

an update regarding writing a reader profile

At first I was slightly unsure as to what exactly this was, I had never heard of this before and therefore had to do some research into it and locate some examples. After finding some examples and hearing an explanation by my teacher I realised that it was actually much more simple than I had originally thought it would be.

I found it incredibly simple to then do my reader profile as I knew of a friend of mine who exactly demonstrated the audience of people that I wished to target. Doing this activity really helped me when making my magazine as it enabled me to know who exactly I needed to aim my magazine towards, and who would be buying it.

magazine analysis

moodboard of my chosen genre

mindmap of magazine cover ideas

my chosen genre - indie

The genre that I have chosen is indie rock, with the subgenre of indie pop. It is thought of as quite an underground genre as it is not mainstream, and is unknown to the majority of people. It derived from rock but is now a genre of its own. Most of the artists being from independent labels.

my chosen music genre

music genre research

production schedule

preliminery task evaluation

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

My magazine cover follows many conventions of real life media products. For example it has a large masthead featuring the title of the magazine. It is designed to stand out and be read easily, even at a brief glance of the cover. Just below the masthead is a dateline, this is a line of text featuring the issue number and date of the magazines. This is so that people are aware of how old or recent the issue may be. This is in a much smaller font than the mast head as it doesn't provide the purpose of gaining attention. Once again following the convention of real life media product, my magazine cover consists of a single main image. The image i have used is one of a school and it links back to the title of the magazine, which is also the title of the school. 

Although my magazine cover does not feature as many coverlines as usually thought conventional, i still have coverlines distributed around the main image. I have made sure that these do not in any detract from the main image however as it is important that the image is still the main feature. 

My magazine cover challenges conventions of common magazine cover as it does not include a main cover line. Instead it includes a few evenly spread coverlines all of the same size and colour, as there is not one that is of more importance than the others. I did this so as to show that all content within the magazine is highly important and there is not one article more important than another. 

As my magazine is a school one and not one used for advertising of products, there is no use of the left third for advertising things such as sales and discounts offered in shops. Something that is usually seen on magazine covers. My magazine does also not feature a price or barcode as most magazines do, as it is not a magazine that would be sold in a shop, it would be handed out freely within the school.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Since it is a school magazine i used formal language and used standard english. The magazine is aimed mainly at the current or perspective parents of the school pupils therefore it needed to show the school in the best light it could. It needed to have a serious and formal feel about it and i wanted it to look as neat, formal, and tidy as possible. The images in my contents page feature the school boys looking smart, wether it be in a suit or another school kit. I want parents to see that the pupils at the school have a good attitude and abide with the school uniform rules and regulations. I also thought it was important to get pictures that featured some greenery, as this shows that the school is a nice environment, trees also connote serenity and that is a good impression to give off.

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

I have learnt how to make presentations on the website 'prezzi'. I have also learnt how to use photoshop as before the making of these magazine elements i was completely unexperienced as i have never used it before. It was therefore a very good oppourtunity for me to learn how to use it and discover many of the things that I can do on there. I learnt how to import and resize images, how to alter the brightness, and to add and edit texts. 

what are the strengths and weaknesses of your final product?

I think my front cover is quite strong as it looks professional and very neat which is what my main aim was. I believe too that my contents page looks neat and organised, however it does not follow all the usual conventions of a professional contents page, and i believe i could have added more elements to it and developed it much more. I think one of the main weaknesses with my cover and contents page is that i have not used enough technical features using the photoshop programme. For example i think it is important that for my main task i use more of the editting tools that are available. I believe my cover is still however clear and effective in drawing in the audience although i feel as though it could possibly be more eye catching. 

preliminary task final pieces

image choice for magazine cover

This image will be the main one featured on my magazine cover. It it an image of one of the school buildings. It is very bright which makes the white of the image really stand out. White often connotes cleanliness and is often thought to be the colour of perfection. It also may give an impression of safety and it makes the school seem open and welcoming. The blue of the sky is also a key feature and is often associated with stability. The blue sky gives a sense of tranquility and peacefulness which i also tried to create by having no people present in the image. The blue of the sky will feature the white title meaning it will stand out. I think this image is very nice and shows the school building in a very nice light. 


The second image I am going to use is this one here on the right. It is one of the school signs and clearly shows the full name of the school, along with the badge, and also a motto of the school. Featuring the words 'Where Everybody Matters' this sign demonstrates that the school is one where caring is a big part. There are trees and some greenery around and behind the sign which shows that the school is a nice environment and has elements of greenery. The greenery around the sign looks to be well maintained and trees also often connote peace and serenity. This links again to the previous picture I wrote about, which too, demonstrates the peacefulness and ideas of serenity throughout the school. 

This image features a boy in sports wear and i will use it to show that although the school is formal and smart it also has a sporty side which it takes very seriously. The boy in this image looks happy and it will feature a short text just underneath it, regarding a recent sporting win by the school. This demonstrates that the school is proud to show off its achievements. It also shows that this is a good school both academically and in extra-curricular activities. The image is quite bright and there is a lot of greenery in  the background showing that the school also has nice grounds and nice outside space. Although he is not in a uniform he still looks smart and that shows that the school still has standards or formality, whether or not uniform is being worn

This image is of a boy in a suit. He is a sixth former and is smiling to show that he is enjoying his time in school. The image is light which shows serenity. There are books on shelves behind him which may show that he is in an area to work. He looks very friendly and doesn't look intimidating. I wanted him to look like this to demonstrate the fact that the boys in the sixth form are approachable and are people that you can talk to, he looks approachable. The table is clean and the room is quite tidy which shows that the school is kept in order and the students are respectful of their school environment. He looks smart and formal which shows that even when not in the school uniform, they are still required to maintain a look of formality. This then shows the younger pupils that they need to also look smart at all times.

This image is of a member of the sixth form doing work in his spare time. It shows that pupils are motivated to do work over and above what they are set. The fact that he is not in a classroom shows that he is spending his time out of lesson doing revision so as to further his education. Once again he is wearing a shirt and looks both smart and tidy. His work is arranged neatly and appears to be working well without being disturbed by other people. Once again the image is light and there is a big window present. Outside can be seen the playing fields and sports areas.

 

This image is of a sign post in the school grounds. It shows some of the different departments held in the school. Once again the image is light. The sign is clean and clear. The greenery present once again in the image could show that the school cares for their environment. It also looks nice and shows that the school is more than just a mass of concrete buildings. The image includes a sign pointing to the drama department, I have chosen this as it will link to an article later in the magazine regaurding one of their most recent achievements.

 



first draft of magazine cover and contents page

Magazine cover  

This is my first draft of my magazine cover. The title is of a large font so that it stands out and it will be in white so as to catch the attenion of the reader as it will be on a slightly darker background. It will be in font 'calibri' which is quite a modern font showing that the school is very up to date and modern. It does however still look formal and shows that the school is not informal. It will feature a large image of one of the school buildings. The image is very bright which shows cleanliness and make it feel slightly more welcoming. The image has no peoples in it and the brightness of the white building also adds a feel of serenity. It also features an image of a boy working hard, this demonstrates the good work ethic of the school. The boy in the image also looks smart showing that the school does have uniform rules and needs the boys to look smart and formal. There will also be some information on upcoming school events to keep the parents and pupils informed on the great oppurtunities the school has to offer. The font will be one that is easy to read, for this reason also the font will be qutie large. The magazine will have the date and issue number featured on the top right hand corner so that people are aware of what issue it is.

Contents page

My contents page clearly shows all the information within the magazine and also features some images to keep it excitting and to demonstate some of the articles featured within the pages. The pages are clearly listed with their numbers and the images have numbers on them to show which page in the magazine they are related to. It also features the school badge as it is important to the identity of the school. The font is large and also in calibri, therefore it is easy to read. The title will also be in white to match the one of the front cover. The background of the contents page will be white as it is quite a neutral colour and it will mean that the images and page titles will stand out on it as they will be in a navy blue font.

textual analysis of school magazine cover