Friday 17 December 2010

Reviews on my magazine.

My double page spread

  This is my double page spread. My article is also on this page as well, I had a bit of an confusion with my article at first because of what i was planning to include in it as my front cover looked like it could appeal to the gay audience but yet I didn't want it to be a magazine that just attracts the gay market therefore after many discussions with my fellow students and teacher. I came to an conclusion to the magazine itself a special edition of a new DJ sensation who is gay and who wanted to share that to the whole world. 

My advert

This is my advert that i created.

My contents page.

This is my contents page as it stands now. Some of the colors link to the front page e.g. the red used in the front page. The use of fronts used are the same as the front cover and throughout the magazine. The language is also the same as the language used on the front cover and the double page spread. 

My Front Page

This is my final piece for my front cover. 

Evaluation on music magazine

For my music magazine I decide to create and produce a chart music magazine, as from what i found out from my research that there wasn't already this genre of music magazine on the market. Therefore I wanted mine to be unique but yet follow the codes and conventions of creating an successful magazine. I also wanted to bring a new market to the music magazine industry. Creating this magazine took a lot of time and effort in to it, even though there could still be room for improvements, I believe that I have created an successful magazine to the best of my ability.

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

My music magazine uses codes and conventions in many ways such within the mastheads, pictures and general layouts that is shown in the real media. I have used code and conventions throughout my magazine, whereas on my front cover I have added my own style into it by making the main picture in black and white and also in colour, therefore it makes this unique effect to make the front cover more attractive and even though it was a risk that I took, I believe it works well and looks professional and that what I wanted my aim to be. I laid out my front cover in a traditional format; masthead, headlines around the the main picture and of course one main image. I also took another risk that did not follow the codes and conventions and that was to have a male model as my main image on my front cover, as from what I have researched that most music magazine either have a female model or a band etc. But in some aspects I wanted my music magazine to be different and therefore I had to take the risks and not follow the codes and conventions to achieve this. Even though it is very different to have a a male as the main image on the front cover, I did come across a magazine (Rollingstone) that was similar to the idea's that I wanted for my magazine. Therefore this magazine was my inspiration to creating my front cover and what my main image is going to look like but of course with different elements in it also. 
The colours used on the front cover work well with the main image, as the model is in black and white and the headphones that he is wearing is in colour and the colours that are the headphones are the colours that are used for headlines and title etc so the texts and image blend well with each other. The colours used on the front cover page are quite feminine, as they are bright and soft colours, therefore this will appeal to most gay's also. These colours also stand out well against the misty white background, therefore the texts and the image stand out more and the background doesn't take the focus away from the headlines etc. 
As you can see in this image below that the title and the headlines are the same colour as the  headphones, therefore it is a good contrast. 




2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I created my magazine to an audience who have a passion and love for chart music and hottest tracks for that period of time etc. But also because I made this magazine a special edition, this special edition also appeals to the gay market as the model on the front cover is a new 'gay' DJ and he tells about his life being gay and his childhood in the article that I have also produce therefore this would appeal to the gay market but also still my original audience because it has features, review etc that will interest them as well.  
The image I have used is quite stereotyped because it is a 'fit' male model, like touching himself being cheeky and thats what you believe you see when you think of an gay person and I believe that the picture I have taken relates to a gay person as it has all those elements that you would expect to see for a gay person. I did this clearly to make sure that the gay audience and my original will easily recognize that its gay feature that is included in my magazine so therefore it will sell more as its a larger audience that will be attractive to my magazineThe clear ideology of my magazine is the conviction that the celebrity gossip advertised on my front cover will lure young adults into buying my magazine just with the images and the celebrity ideals such as gossip and drama. The image to your right, which are headlines in on the front cover of my magazine, show that there is gossip throughout the magazine with real celebrities. 
I have chosen to represent my chosen social group in a good way by presenting the cover model to be looking happy, fun and attractive and by not actually saying that the he is gay as some people may be against that sexuality, so it promotes a good image. However this is subverted by the article in the magazine where the focus is on hanging around with the wrong crowd and different sexuality which is completely the opposite of what the audience believe this social group is against.


3. What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?
I decide to not just do my music magazine to the gay market because doing it to the gay audience and the audience that have an interest in chart music will wider my audience meaning the magazine is more likely to be successful. As the gay magazine is not a wide audience and some people may disagree with the that sexuality it will reduce the amount of people that will purchase my music magazine. 


4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
To find out who my target audience was, i carried out a questionnaire, asking a wide range of people a number of questions that relate to my magazine and that will help me to create and design my magazine. I asked a number of people that I knew who be interested in chart music. I got positive feedback saying that producing a music magazine will be a good music magazine and successful if it includes the right things and looks professional. 
After producing my magazine I decided to go back to the people I asked in the questionnaire and see what they think of the my final piece When given back feedback from my target audience I wasn’t at all surprised as they all gave me similar answers to my expectations. such as that this magazine will be successful and appeal to the right audience that you are aiming it at from the pictures and language that I have used. However I did get some negative feedback about the layout of my magazine but with time and effort I was able to fix the mistakes that I made and so therefore I took in to consideration  what the public thought of my magazine and make it even better. 
I also did a 'wallwisher' where I could ask the public a question about my magazine and see what their responses are. So I asked them 'do you think my magazine will appeal to the gay audience?' but unfortunately  only one person wrote on my wall, therefore was not able to get a better understanding of if it would appeal to the gay market because it was only one person's opinion. This is a link to my WallWisher ---> http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/blondie1993


5. How did you attract / address your audience?
My magazine attracts readers and gives a solo selling point. On my front cover I have used the codes and conventions to draw the attention of my audience. For example, I have made sure that the ‘hotspots’ at the top of my front cover are full with information so that that if my magazine was on a shelf it would be visible. My unique selling point of my magazine is the free posters they get with the magazine, I did this because I felt it would attract more of my audience to purchase the magazine, knowing that they will get something more in return when buying the magazine. I also attracted my audience by making the price not to high.
Hello magazine sell their magazines for: £2.50




OK! magazine sell their magazines for: £2.70
Whereas Im selling my magazine for £1.95 but thats not to say it bad quality or does not have the features that they may have because from my opinion it can be just as good as those magazines. 


6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have also made sure that I havent made the layout and design of the magazine to formal and boring but yet havent made it too childish.
While creating this media product, i have learnt how to use a different range of sofwares to design and create your final piece. I have learnt to experment with new tools on the computers softwares such as editing photo's, layouts and texts and adding effects aswell. I have always been computer litural and very creative with my design work but I feel that experiencing different softwares has increased my level of knowlegde about design work and techolongy you may use. 

I have learnt how to use an Apple mac as I had never used one in my life before, however after many weeks of experimenting and using one I was able to overcome this fear using an apple mac.  
Even I take photography as an A level as well, producing a professional music magazine photo did have it difficulties, such as getting the angle, lighting and positioning correct and to fit in with my magazine. But with lots of practice, I feel that I have produced some good quality and professional looking images. 
Photoshop was one of the softwares I used to make my images even better.  I enjoyed working and experimenting with this software and had great fun testing out new tools on photoshop. To begin with I used a YOUTUBE clip to help me understand and know what photoshop offers and I found this very helpful and useful for someone like me who was a beginner at photoshop and I even feel that now I can create a YOUTUBE clip about photoshop by myself. This was the link I used http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBv3mIsKKRs
I would say that I have not been limited by the technology used because the Mac’s have so many applications and extras on them that I could easily do all that I wanted. However if i knew more knowledge about the softwares that are on a mac I reckon I could massively improved my magazine. 


7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at what I produced on my preliminary task, I feel that I have improved my knowledge of creating a magazine massively. As you can see from my school magazine, I was very weary of how magazines create there layout and what needs to be included even after research I still struggled. 


The pictures I also took are not as good quality and professional looking as my ones for my music magazine, and you can tell this by the way it has not been edited, the angle, lighting etc. 
I feel that I could of managed time more apportiatly because I feel that I left most of it to the last minute, meaning I wasn't able to take time on my research, magazine and evaluation to make it outstanding, so time management was one of the biggest problems I came across. But with determination and effort I was able to complete all the tasks to the best of my ability. 


Overall I have enjoyed creating this music magazine and I feel have achieved a lot in last few months with producing both my preliminary task and music magazine. I have learnt how to use a different variety of softwares to improve my magazine and make it outstanding. But i feel as if I was to do this task again it will be much improved because I would manage the time better and work better with the softwares I use. 

Rate Cards



Above is a Rate card for NME, this includes things such as how much it costs to advertise in their magazine and what type of people who read the magazine. For this magazine their target audience is more for males in their 20's with an average income, even though there are other people that read the magazine that is the main target audience, as with the types of advertising in this magazine are more aimed at males in there 20's. Also NME is aimed at big groups of people rather then specific types of people where as magazines such as classic rock have got more of a smaller market.