EVALUATION: Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task, Of Designing The Front Page Of A School Magazine, What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To The Final Product ?

Overall I feel that I have learnt a lot throughout completing both the actual and preliminary task. During the process of this task, I have learnt basic skills in Photoshop and Pages and I have also developed my knowledge further in editing and manipulating photos. Blogging my research and planning is also a skill that I have learnt, from posting simple blog posts to downloading slideshow presentations and fonts I feel that my ICT skills have widened significantly.

From making the transition from prelim to actual main task I evaluated my prelim magazine front page and contents page and assesed the positive and negative points about it. I found out what was good about it and what particular concepts had worked well- ones which I could develop further on my actual main task.

A process that helped me develop my initial ideas further was flat planning. Through the flat planning stages I could experiment what particular styles and designs would work the best in attracting my target audience. Through having a range of flat planned ideas I could evaluate and clearly see where I needed to make slight adjustments.

Through making a music publication I learnt how to take succesful photos which portrayed meaning and insight into my music genre. I also learnt how to manipulate them, giving them greater aesthetic qualities and making them stand out even more. The photos that I took for my prelim task weren't best thought out and didnt include aspects that gave them meaning and thought. For example they didnt portray the right connotations- the models weren't wearing the right sort of clothes to suit the image I wanted to give off and weren't posing in the right way, this was due to lack of time and rescources. However duing my main task I was fortunate enough to have a greater time limit in taking my photos, this enabled me to put some more thought into certain aspects such as location, costume, and poses. This ensured that my photos gave off the right sorts of image which helped connect with my target audience. I feel that my second photoshoot was more succesful due to the fact that I spent more time in planning them and thinking about the effect photos have on the overall publication.

• The prelim task front cover (shine) uses only one font throughout the whole of the page, however on the actual front page (candy) two distinctive fonts are used which clearly allows the separation between the masthead and other text on the page
• The actual front page (candy) features things that are commonly found on existing publications such as a barcode and the price. This allows the front page to look more professional
• There are more puffs on the actual front page (candy) this makes the magazine look a lot more interesting and dynamic and professional
• The colour scheme on the actual front page (candy) is more vibrant and thought out, making the overall design of the front page more aesthetically pleasing and attractive towards my intended target audience
• The masthead on the actual front page (candy) is written in a much more dynamic font and is much larger than the one on the prelim task, making it stand out more and attracting more attention to it. This allows readers to easily identify this magazine

EVALUATION: What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing Your Product ?

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EVALUATION: How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience ?

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EVALUATION: Who Would Be The Audience For Your Music Magazine ?

This mood board gives some information about my target audience such as age, gender, interests and hobbies.

The magazine focuses greatly on new music in the pop scene. The style in articles would be quite informal with using young linguistic colloquialisms such as 'OMG' and 'TTYL' to allow the publication to be inaccessible for older readers but extremely current and cool for teens. The gender of readers would not be mainly female as features like 'make-up tips' and 'fashion' would presumably be more aimed at a  female audience. The lifestyle of the readership would be quite similar all across the country due to the fact that the vast majority would still be attending school, however their lifestyles could vary seeing as they are mostly dependant on their parents and each readers lifestyle would depend on what their parents do for a living. Most readers would share similar hobbies and interests such as fashion and pop music.

The uses and gratifications theory demonstrates how the content would fulfil the audience’s needs:

•     Diversion: The publication provides entertainment through its light-hearted, fun and vibrant articles and features. Also, it encourages its readership to enjoy music, celeb gossip and fashion in the comfort of their own homes.
•     Surveillance: Information about the pop music scene is offered in every issue and information about the latest celeb gossip and fashion is also featured in every issue.
•     Personal Identity: Interviews published in the magazine may affirm the identity of the reader, for example, an artist may mention a particular place they like to hang out (e.g shopping centre) and readers would be able to relate to this, also they may mention favourite fashion designers which might be the same as some readers 
•     Personal Relationships:  Media such as magazines can be used within existing relationships, for instance, friends may discuss the content of ‘Candy’ with each other, also the features in 'Candy' may cause readers to go out and do things together, for example 'make-up tips' is featured and readers may see this and try the tips out on their friends. They could also complete and chat about the quizzes together.

Audience Feedback Evaluation Video

In addition to my evaluation questions, I also asked a selection of people in my media class questions that would accompany my evaluation. I asked them various questions which would indicate whether my music genre and purpose and intentions were recognisable through the overall design of just my front and contents page.

Response

• From analysing my front page and contents page, my peers could instantly recognise that my magazine was aimed towards the pop music scene. They could tell this through the colours used (pink and yellow) as they reflect a girly, innocent vibe.

• They could also tell that my magazine was designed for teenage girls with an interest in pop music through the photographs featured on my magazine. The poses of the artists appeal to a younger audience as they are quite sweet and cute. They dont portray any rough or hard attitudes which would be a common feature on an RnB based type magazine.

• From looking at my magazine people came to the conclusion that the main purposes and intentions of it was to entertain. They thought that the focus on music wasnt as strong as the main focuses of fashion and celebs. They came to this conclusion from the images used and the text on the contents page.

EVALUATION: In What Ways Does Your Music Magazine Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Existing Music Magazines ?

The Features Of Music Magazines That I Have Used On My Publication Are :

• masthead
• strapline
• date
• price
• barcode
• cover lines
• main image
• puffs

Masthead

I have followed the strongly used convention of a masthead in my media product, I have kept my masthead at the top of my front cover down to the fact that this is where the audience are used to seeing the title, it is the norm for my potential audience. On an added note, if my masthead wasn’t at the top of my front cover the title of my magazine will not be seen when they are stacked up in a shop.

Only a small percentage of the magazines are at the front of the shelf, those behind rely on their strong masthead to draw attention.


Puffs

I have used a relatively small number of puffs on my front cover - this goes against many typical music magazines for example this Kerrang music magazine front cover. It shows many puffs lined at the top and bottom of the page, filling the front page with eye catching examples as to why to by the magazine. Whereas my magazine uses less puffs in a more stylised approach, they help to create a constant style across the page - the puffs help make the front cover appear more organised and professional.

The colouring of my puffs also allows to stand out, I have done this with the big, bold bright pink puffs that stand out whn being anchored ontop of a black image. This allows the potential readers to acknowledge the bigger stories in the magazine, the stories that are exclusive to that magazine or just the stories that have more pages dedicated to them.

Main Image

I have used an average amount of images on my front cover, like traditional music magazine front covers I have incorporated the trend of a massive, overpowering main image. I have decided to do this for mainly because it shows the main focus on my artist - a music magazine based on pop has to surely showcase pop acts.
The image I  used help promote the pop music scene that my magazine focuses on, with the image of a  glamorous teenage girl. The main image I have used helps promote a focused and friendly figure.

EVALUATION: How Does Your Music Magazine Represent Particular Social Groups

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EVALUATION: What Kind Of Institute Might Distribute Your Music Magazine And Why ?

My magazine would be distributed in a variety of traditional, unique and different ways, to reflect the publications ethos of traditional, unique and different music.

Institutes that will distribute my magazine

. Newsagents, supermarkets and newsstands.
Newsagents, supermarkets and newsstands would all be great institutions to distribute my magazine because they are traditionally expected to stock the latest and most popular publications. Clients would go to one of these institutes expecting to find a copy of the magazine they are looking for. These places would probably be the most common and easiest way of purchasing magazines and viewing the latest ones on the market. Purchasing your magazine from a  newsagent or a supermarket is also very convinent as you can buy other things at the same time.


   



.Music stores (e.g. HMV, Virgin Megastores)
Due to the fact that my magazine is of a music genre, I feel that it would be useful to sell my magazine in a music store such as HMV as this would guarentee that the right sorts of audience can see the magazine as the people who shop in music stores obviously find entertainment through music so a music magazine would more than likely appeal to them.





.Online Subscription
A cool, new and exciting way of distributing my magazine would be online. Readers could order an online subscription through credit card payments.This would ensure that the publication could reach everyone, even those who are unable to reach a shop to purchase the magazine. Other existing music magazines that already follow this concept are NME, who operate through a large media company IPC. To persuade readers to purchase this magazine in this dynamic way, discounts could be offered to entise customers e.g. half price when you order online.





.Other Retailers My Target Market Shop At
As my target market are relitively young and like to spend their money on clothes and make-up, I think that it would be a good idea to stock my magazine in other shops that interest my target audience, for example the majority of my intended target audience like to shop at fashion high street chain New Look, so consequently I feel that it would be beneficial to distribute my magazine there. Also as my target audience like to spend their spare money on make-up, I think that it would be a good idea to stock my magazine in high street stores Boots and Superdrugs, both of which already stock gossip magazines such as OK which cater for their older customers, however stocking my magazine would ensure that they are catering for a younger audience aswell as an older one.

  

Finished Double Page Spread

Double Page Spread Analysis

Colour Scheme

I chose to use roughly the same colour scheme as I did on my front and contents page in order to keep the overall design of my magazine consistent and to ensure that throughout my magazine I was satisfying my target markets needs, likes and interests. The colour scheme I chose of pink and yellow is very feminine so by using these particular colours I could ensure that the whole publication is aimed at my intended target audience.

Images

The images I used are relevant to the text. The feature article being presented throughout this double page spread is all about the latest girlband so the pictures  very appropriately illustrate the text and create a new dimension to the page. They also distract away from all the writing, which, when at first looked at could scare or bore away readers. The images keep the reader entertained. I manipulated these images and added special effects to them such as shadowing and the 'sticky tape' to make them more dynamic and to make the page look more attractive.

Generic Convention Codes
When designing my double page spread I decided to include generic convention codes employed by existing music magazines in order to make my publication look as professional as possible. For example:

Page numbers: Through my research into existing music magazines I identified that common features of magazines were to include page numbers at the bottom of each page so I included this feature on my publication.

A common feature on double page spreads that include interviews are snippets from the interview brought out in order to attract and gain the attention of readers. They usually are written in a larger font and are in inverted commas, they are also commonly placed where the reader can easily see them. I chose to include this feature in order to make my magazine look more professional.

Finished Contents Page

Contents Page Analysis

The masthead

I decided to include the masthead on the contents page in order to make sure that my design was consistent. It also suited the colour scheme too. Existing music magazines such as NME include their masthead on their contents page thats why I consciencly chose to use this design feature aswell.

Images

I chose to put a sidebar on the right hand side and put pictures inside it because I saw this particular design feature in another magazine aimed at my target audience. I think its very effective in adding a new dimension to the page, it also breaks it up and creates sections, making it easier and clearer to read and understand.

The Text

I chose to use the same typography as on my frontpage in order to remain consistency, also I feel that my chosen particular font style would appeal to my intended target audience so therefore I chose to keep it. The text was placed in directly in the middle of the page in order to attract attention to it.

Finished Front Cover

Comparison Of Mastheads

After I designed the masthead for my magazine, I could see the similarities it shared with the masthead from Top Of The Pops. This may have been because both my magazine and TOTP share the same musical genre and are targeting the same type of audiences.

Similarities

• Both mastheads are of a large size and are very bold
• Both the mastheads share a similar colour scheme, (pink) this makes them both more appealible to female audiences
• Both of the mastheads are of a similar size, this size is good for attracting attention yet not completely overpowering the whole front page

Differences

• The typography used in TOTP masthead is much more 'fun' as it is all sguiggly and rounded whereas the typography used in my masthead is more universal and mature
• My masthead consists only of one word which makes it stand out more whereas the TOTP masthead consists of four words, taking attention away from it

Flat Plan Of Magazine

                                                               Flat Plan Frontpage

Contents Page Flatplan

Producing flat plans for magazines makes it easier and less confusing when designing your actual pages because it gives you a guideline to work by and refer to.
Also, because I am doing a pop based music magazine, doing a flat plan before I have actually designed my magazine gives me the opportunity to look at specific features and generic convention codes of similar magazines such as 'Top Of The Pops', pick out features that I would like to use on my own magazine and put them on my flat plan- in order to make sure that i include them on my actual designs.

Front Cover Analysis

Masthead

The masthead is very girly,fun and glamorous and this reflects the type of music that my magazine is trying to promote and focus on. The use of special effects that I used on photoshop to enhance the masthead such as inner shadows and outer glows makes it all the more eye-catching and much bolder- attracting more attention to it and grabbing the attention of my target audience, making them recognise and become familiar with the publication. The colours I used also reflect my target audience and represent the fun, care-free youthfull attitude of my potential readers. My chosen colour scheme of pink and yellow is also similar to other music magazines that focus on the pop genre such as 'Top of the Pops'.

Strapline

I added the strapline to advertise the contents of the magazine in a quick, short and sharp way and simply because its a generic convention code of magazines. I put things that would interest my readers in the strapline such as 'competitions'so that it would instantly attract their attention and persuade them to buy and read the magazine.

Main Image

This image is a close-up of a teenage girl. The fact that it has been manipuated, making it black and white with one item in colour makes it very defined and instantly gives off an arty effect. The fact that the image has a black background makes it very easy to anchor and to add other layers ontop. The pose of the girl in the photo is very confident and angelic, shes pouting in a specific way and is looking directly at the camera, these factors will appeal strongly to my target market and the overall look of the model fits in with my pop theme. The fact that my model is wearing novelty glasses, (popular with teenage girls - my target market) and a flower clip in her hair immedietely highlights who my publication is for and is similar to what pop artists would wear.

The Price

The price of the magazine will be £1.50 due to the fact that my target audience are still in school and don't have any money of their own yet, so most probably will be relying on parents or pocket money so £1.50 is a reasonable cost. Also this is a very competitive price as most music magazines cost a lot more than £1.50 (inc top of the pops) so consequently as my magazine is a lot cheaper this may persuade more people to start reading this publication opposed to others.

Reference to Website

At the bottom of the front page, it says 'why not visit us at http://www.candymag.co.uk'/. This shows that the publication is easily accessible to everyone and that it is a very dynamic magazine. Also leading music magazines such as NME and Top of the Pops include web addresses.

Image Slideshow

Typography

I have chose to use the font above for the masthead and headings in my magazine due to the fact that I believe it brings across my intended target audience which are young teenage girls. This is conveyed through the fact that the font looks very glamorous, hence the way there are dots inside of the letters which almost look like the lights on a dressing table. A very 'hollywood' feel is conveyed through this font I feel. The use of a bright hot pink colour scheme also makes the masthead very bold and eye catching to potential readers (teenage girls especially who would presumably like and be attracted to pink things). The way the letters are all in capitals also makes it look extremely bold, which is a great way of attracting readers and making the title very noticable. This font is extremely relevant to current influences nowadays, for example the 'hollywood and sweet, fun, glamorous theme' is very attractive to teenage girls hence the massive interest in celebs and beauty.

Analysis Of My Photos

Front Cover:

This image is a close-up of a teenage girl. The fact that it has been manipuated, making it black and white with one item in colour makes it very defined and instantly gives off an arty effect. The fact that the image has a black background makes it very easy to anchor and to add other layers ontop. The pose of the girl in the photo is very confident and angelic, shes pouting in a specific way and is looking directly at the camera, these factors will appeal strongly to my target market and the overall look of the model fits in with my pop theme. The fact that my model is wearing novelty glasses, (popular with teenage girls - my target market) and a flower clip in her hair immedietely highlights who my publication is for and is similar to what pop artists would wear.

Other images

This is a mid-shot of a teenage girl. The fact that she is holding a make-up brush in her hand links perfectly to the text on the contents page and also indicates that the magazine is geared towards catering for a female teenage audience. The fact there is a blank white background ensures that all the attention is focused on the main image and not elsewhere. The model is facing the camera but looking slightly to the right- not directly into the camera lens which could suggest a slightly rebelious and cheeky vibe. A vibe which my target audience would be able to relate to.

These two images are of my featured artists- the girlband 'Miami'.They are both long-shots of teenage girls posing together in common ways in which a girlband would. The pink background highlights and puts emphasis on the girly aspect of the image and the fact that it is just a plain colour doesnt take any emphasis away from the people in the image. The poses of the models in the first picture creates quite a cheeky and funloving atmosphere- an image quite widely associated with the pop industry. In the second picture the models are looking directly into the camera with a smile on their faces. The way they are looking directly at the audience creates a more personal effect and portrays them as confident people (great role models for readers). The outfits worn by the models (such as flowery skirts, blazers and accessories) fashionable clothes, really highlight the genre of music this publication is linked with- seeing as fashion is very much a major part of the pop music appeal. The outfits also create a very girly vibe and could help reach out to readers because my target audience have a great interest for fashion also for example it could inspire them or give them something to talk about with their friends.

Software Used To Produce My Music Magazine

When I was designing and creating my publication , I used a variety of software to help me. Those incuded were Photoshop and Pages.

 Photoshop was the main piece of software that I used, I used it for designing my front page and contents page. Photoshop is commonly used in industry for manipulating photos and moving around layers on a page.
I used photoshop to create my prelim task and throughout making that I learnt how to work photoshop and create good effects from it that would benefit my magazine, therefore thats why I chose to use it on my real coursework.
Pages is great for word processing, its also a very simple piece of software to come to grips with. I chose to use pages for my double page spread because it is easier to edit word documents, and add coloums, shapes and different pages. You can also move photos around easily on pages and add special effects onto them such as blurring and framing.

Existing Double Page Spreads

Spider Diagram