How did you attract/address your audience?

The language I used addressed my audience in an informal way. I didn’t want to write my article in a formal manor like the guardian or times newspaper as my audience wouldn’t read those types of newspapers. For example, my magazine offers a lads holiday to Ayia Napa. The typical stereotype would not speak posh, and would not want to be spoken to with fancy long words. My magazine uses language that interacts with the young male reader, and uses the type of langauge they would use in everyday life.
I use many colours to attract my audience, which will hopefully catch their eye in order for them to buy my magazine. Once again, unlike the Guardian, this is an informal way of attracting an audience. Also my images used in my magazine are relaxed and modern.

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

FRONT COVER

My ability using Adobe Photoshop CS5 had improved considerably, and had allowed me to try new, more complicated things that I didn’t know before. For example I leant that using the clone stamp tool removed unwanted pictures/details on my models clothing; this prevented my audience being distracted by the logos on his t-shirt. On my college magazine (preliminary task) my model has a lot of details on his t-shirt, but I didn’t know how to remove them at that point. Another thing I learnt was the amount of spacing between each line vertically. On my music magazine this tool allowed me to close up the gaps of my text, creating me more space. Also is more similar to famous magazines such as Vibe. My music magazine cover looks more professional and creative than my college magazine due to my extensive research on other magazine such as Vibe, NME and Kerrang. My layout is very similar, both covers having the text I the top right, and having only one main image; but the font type and detail of my music magazine (M.M.M) looks a lot better and more professional than my college magazine front cover (Speak).

CONTENTS PAGE
My contents page layout has changed entirely due to the skills I have learnt. I learnt how to reduce the distance between the texts vertically so my page looks more professional and neat. This makes a massive difference in the overall look to my contents page. Compared to my college magazine (speak) my music magazine (M.M.M) has a lot more text, therefore a lot more information and contents. This makes the magazine more realistic. Unlike my college magazine, my music magazine has two images on the contents page. My photography skills have improved a lot. Knowing how to work my dad’s camera and creating a photo-shoot in my friends shed has helped my develop my photo taking skills. My images are clearly, more detailed and have been edited to remove unwanted spots and clothing logos. My colour scheme is again, similar. I used red, blue and black again as I think these colours work well together and are used for the majority of music magazines such as NME. The music magazine contents page looks overall brighter, which attracts the reader and is overall of better quality and my college magazine. This improvement is due to the skills I have learnt using Photoshop and the ability to use different settings on a camera. I used black and white effect, and put the setting to fine revolutions, therefore making the picture even clearer.

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

I used 4 programs to create my front page, contents and double page spread. The main program used was Adobe Photoshop CS5. I used this program to create the layout of my magazine, and to add pictures and text. Also to edit my photo’s, to remove unwanted marks and to change the contrast. An advantage of using Photoshop is having everything you want to create a magazine. It has everything from page size or orientation to picture contrasting and texts/fonts. Having everything in the same program allows you to try different styles and not get confused with so many windows open. The only disadvantage of using Photoshop is the difficulty. At the beginning of developing my college magazine I was a novice, only having a few lessons to learn the basics with no past experience. But soon after trying new ways, and experimenting (clicking random icons) , you work out what does what. Without Adobe Photoshop CS5, I would have not been able to create my magazine.
Another program I used was Microsoft word. This is an easy, simple program to use. I only used this program to the double page spread, to draft my interview with ‘Bromance’ my main feature. It would have been hard to type all of the text into Photoshop. The only disadvantage of Mircosoft Word is the limited fonts/text available.
Arguably the most important was Internet Explorer. I used this program for all of my research, comparing other magazine to mine, finding relevant pictures and content. Internet Explorer is easy, and quick to use. Also have no boundaries to what information you can find relevant to my final product. Information such as sales figures of other magazine, and also pictures of NME magazine, which my magazine is based on. A disadvantage of using internet explorer is that with the endless sites and pages you can find, you can find yourself wasting time.
The final program I used was blogger.com. This is where I uploaded all my coursework, such as planning, my final piece and my evaluation. Blogger is also quite fun to use, being about to change the display of your own blog allows you to add your personality to your coursework. The problem with uploading vital coursework ti the internet is that it carries a risk of getting lost, and possibly losing all of your work. Another disadvantage of Blogger was the length of time it took to sign up, and get use to the site. Once again, I have to teach myself how to use the site, but after that, the site became very effective and easy to use.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

For my magazine, I would want a large institution such as IPC media to distribute each monthly issue of M.M.M worldwide. My magazine has no local news, and would be ideal for music/fashion orientated teenagers/young men around the world. If IPC refused to publish my magazine due to lack of experience I would want Dennis publishers, a medium sized publishers who concentrate on Europe, not worldwide. Both of these publishers I would be happy with as my magazine would have a lot of publicity and advertisement, with plenty of potential customers. A disadvantage of asking IPC would be the amount of money it would cost, and may not be worth spending. Also, IPC distribute NME, a similar, more established magazine to mine, and therefore would not be their main priority. Another disadvantage going with larger institutions would be the amount of adverts being printed in my magazine, creating less space in the magazine, and distracting the reader for articles. Overall, I would want my magazine, M.M.M to be distributed by Dennis publishers as they are smaller in size compared to IPC, but do not have similar magazine to me already.

Photo's not used for my final piece

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The people above, are all young males, between the agers of 17-25. All three are well dressed with their own particualr style. These three males symbolise my main target audience.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My target audience are between the broad age range of 17-25 and the Social status is B C1 and C2 which is a Supervisory and junior managerial or professional classes to show the group of middle class households or individuals who have not attained the status of the upper middle class. The main social status for my audience for the music magazine doesn’t quite want to grow up yet and their marital status will be mainly single. The target audience are at a certain stage in their lives with fashion and music being the centre focus with education also key and important in their lives.

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

In terms of layout, my magazine is very similar in the style of this Cosmopolitan. Both of these covers above have plain backgrounds, mine grey, Cosmopolitan white. Also our tittles are found at the very top of the magazine, in the biggest font. Both magazines again, have only one image of the front, but mine is male, not female. Unlike Cosmopolitan, my feature articles are on the right hand side of the magazine, whereas, Cosmopolitan has their features on the left. This is not a big difference, as they are similar in size and font. My music magazine (M.M.M) only uses three colours as its theme, black, red and yellow. Cosmopolitan also uses red and yellow but also uses blue, and has purple in its image. Again our barcode are in similar places, both in the bottom third but mine o the right, Cosmopolitan on the left. A difference in the magazine is the eye contact made by the icon in the image. Cosmopolitan makes eye contact with the reader whereas mine doesn’t.

My Music Magazine Double Page Spread

My Music Magazine Contents Page

My Music Magazine Front Cover

Photoshoot ideas of bands and individual artists

I will use these pictures of various artists such as Robbie Williams, Brandon Flowers, Tinnie Tempah and a member of McFly for my photos. Allowing me to copy certain poses and expressions but of my models or myself. All of the picture shown have plain white, black of grey backgrounds. I will also use this technique.

I will be using a photo of a band for my front cover, or double page spead. I have researched pictures of the killers, oasis, the wanted and take that. All of these groups have four band memeber. My band will also have the traditional four members. Some of these picture have plain backgrounds, similar to the individuals above. But some have a background, such as a dessert. Finding a dessert in Norfolk will be extremely differcult so i plan to use a forrest or gorleston cliffs as my background, with my band posing simliar poses to these band. My research has helped me think of locations, poses and expressions for my magazine photos.

My Magazine Layout

This is my final basic layout for my music magazine. I have decided to put my tittle in the top third of my magazine, so it stands out. The price will be located in the top right hand corner, this allows the customers to see how much it is straight away. Underneath the tittle, to the right hand side, will be the issue number, in red. Down the left hand side will be my main feature, which will be the double page spead and 2 extra features. Also the weekly competition will be in the bottom left hand corner. My main image will be towards the right but slightly centeral so it is the main focus. The features will overlap the main image. I dont want any blank spaces so I have tried to cover all the space possible. At the very bottom is the barecode, publishers name and date.

Breakdown of Cast, Props etc...

Location

My photos will be taken inside, against a plain white wall, so that i can easily crop my model out on Photoshop. I am trying to go with a clean, contemporary look, so having a plain background with a close up of the models face will create this look, hopefully.

Cast

My cast will be a maximum of four, depending weather I want a band, a duo or a single artist, I have not yet decided. I will take photos of all four models separately and together so I have the option to play about with them. I will use either a band/duo for my front cover or my main feature as band/duo are the main occurrence in my type of magazine. The four cast members will all male.

Props

I will be using a few props such as, clothing. It will be very important my models are wearing appropriate clothing; an indie/contemporary fashionable look will be perfect. This will appeal to young males interested in music and fashion.

Also I will need a wall for my models to lean against and a white sheet to cover the wall in order to have a plain white background.

Front Cover Draft

This is my first attempt at using one of my fonts. I decided to completely fill the top third with the tittle, with 'men’s music magazine' underneath in smaller text. This allows the reader to understand what stereotype the magazine is aimed at. I decided to use M.M.M at my magazine's name as it is simple, and stand out to the audience. Once my magazine is established, customers will instantly recognise the magazine. NME stood out to me, and I wanted to use an abbreviation as it is simple but an effective way to market my magazine. I used a picture of my girlfriend for this draft cover as I am thinking of using her on my main cover. Having a female on the front cover will appeal to men, but in a classy way. I won’t be asking her to strip off anytime soon. I also made the image black and white and the back ground grey. Most magazines do this so their main image stands out.

Tilttle Fonts

I have decided to call my music magainze M.M.M. This stands for Men's Music Magazine. The font I have yet to decide must be bold, strong and masculine as it is aimed at young males intested in music and fashion. I have norrowed my choice to eight different fonts, I will choose which one suits my magazine once I have decided the main theme and centre piece on the cover.

Mood Board for my Music Magazine

My mood board for my music magazine is aimed at the younger generation, 17-30. This is because my magazine will include new bands, fashion and festivals which will appeal to young people. My favourite band, Kings of Leon are in my mood board, this is the same type of band that will be in my magazine. Also some Rayban's, a pair of vans, Adidas Orginals logo and an all saints logo symbolise the fashion side of my music magazine. All young trend setters will be interested in the lastest fashion in the music industry. Alcohol and cigarette's are aslo in my mood board, this are sterotypically assosiated with young people going out and the modern day band.

Images for Cover & Contents

I took two photos of each pose to allows me to pike my favourite and edit them on photoshop. I will use I image of my model fro the front cover, and another for the contents page. I also took two photo's for background ideas. One of a corridor at college, and another, artwork in the common room. This allows me to use both backgrounds and chose which background will be more appropriate for my college magazine.

Full Analysis of one music magazine (VIBE)

Vibe magazine background
Vibe is a music and entertainment magazine founded by producer Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip-hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in Summer 2009, Vibe was purchased by the private equity investment fund Inter Media Partners and is now issued quarterly with double covers, with a larger online presence, aided by the Vibe Life Style Network, a group of entertainment/music websites under the Vibe brand. The magazine's target demographic is predominantly young, urban followers of hip-hop culture.
Vibe Magazine was known for the creative direction of their covers. R&B singer Mary J. Blige repeatedly made the cover of Vibe, with countless articles following her career. The first non-photograph cover of Vibe was an illustration of late singer Aaliyah by well-known artist/illustrator Alvaro;Other famous cover subjects are Snoop Dogg, Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Keyshia Cole, Janet Jackson, Lil Wayne, Eminem, T.I, R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, Ciara.

Analysis of Front Covers & Contents Page

Front Cover-Vibe magazine maintain a theme of front covers so the audience and relate and identify the magazine on the shelf. The logo ‘vibe’ is in bold and in red font. The tittle almost takes up a third of the cover. This huge logo stands out and attracts customers. Another consistent trend of ‘vibe magazine’ is the picture. Only one picture in the cover always, with usually a close up of the artists face. Sometimes it is a mid-shot of their whole body. Every cover has the artist looking directly at the camera, maintaining eye contact; ‘vibe magazine’ always uses this technique. This creates a relationship between the magazine and the reader. With the artist creating a sincere look it intrigues and intimidates the audience. Main features are placed around the image of the artist, with red tittle, once again to stand out and to keep to the white, black and red theme.
Contents-The contents page also maintains the same layout each issue but with a different colour scheme. ‘Contents’ is written on 3 lines creating a dis jointed look but with a cool, original outcome. Vibe magazine are constantly trying to keep their contents and front cover contemporary. The features of the magazine are placed in the bottom right with page numbers in bold so they are clearly seen. As well as being a music magazine, vibe also includes fashion and celebrity features. The contents page has a clear background so it doenst steel focus from the text and the picture of the artist/celeb/actor. The same artist who appeared on the front of the cover will also be on the contents page, this link the two pages together and allows the artist to strike more than one pose.

Analysis of 2 Contents Pages (Kerrang)

This magazine contents page actually doesn’t give the name on the magazine on this page, and is a little bit more scattered around the page. It has 6 small pictures and 1 medium size pictures instead of 1 main picture. This gives the reader more to look at but may be put off with the unorganised layout, and will find it hard to find what their looking for. The colour scheme of this contents page is black, yellow and white. This is different to most music magazines. This may entice people or put them off, depending on the individual’s opinion. This contents page had a lot more text compared to Q magazines. This magazine may appeal to more in depth readers. This issue number is in the top right with the date. Whereas Q magazine made theirs stand out. In my opinion, I prefer the simpler layout of Q magazine. It is easier to read, understand and identify where I can find the article I want to read.

Analysis of 2 Contents Pages (Q magazine)

Q magazine contents page is very simple with one picture on the right hand side and the features of the magazine o the left. This simple layout makes it easier for the reader to understand and enjoy. Once again, Q magazines colours are white, black and red. This seems s to be a popular choice for music magazines. The picture is James Blunt, a close up of his face, looking directly into the camera. This shows emotion and connects with the reader straight away. In the top left hand corner is the name of the magazine and the issue number “Q 232”, this is in bold red writing to stand out to the customer. Knowing that this is the 232 issues shows the customer that this is an established popular magazine in the music world. Page numbers are also in red whereas the tittle of each article is in black. This divides numbers with letters which makes it easier for the customers to identify the pages instead of looking for them. The contents page is split into two. ‘Features’ and ‘Every Month’, this is so the reader can identify what is new in the magazine, and what they should expect each month.

Analysis of 2 Front Covers (Classical Music)

Classical music magazine also has only one picture on the cover, which fits the entire cover. This picture is of a middle aged, middle class/upper class man sitting on a bench not facing the camera. This gives a peaceful theme, and simple. The man in the picture ‘Pierre-Laurent Aimard’ wearing a suit immediately show wealth and professionalism. This magazine also uses red, but only a little, the main colour scheme of this cover is blue, white and red. This magazine doesn’t use as much colour as NME and it wants to come across peaceful and tranquil, not lots of energy. Only four features are shown on the cover, with light blue tittles with a small taster in white font. This continues the theme of the magazine. Despite not looking at the camera, a connection is made between the customers and the man in the picture. This picture intrigues the customer, and wants to know what he is looking at. The park bench, and the brick wall symbolises the outdoor world, and again, create peace and tranquillity. The tittle ‘classical music’ is a swirly font to represent the notes played by each instrument.

Analysis of 2 Front Covers (NME)

This issue of NME magazine features Kings of Leon as a band standing behind their name in text. Both the name of the magazine and ‘kings of Leon’ is in red, this is so the reader and instantly see NME and Kings of Leon which will attracted them to buy it. White, red and black and the 3 colours create the theme of the magazine, this keeps it simple but divides the more important information from the not so important and attractive information. For example, Kanye is written in red in the top left of the magazine, and underneath in smaller font and black is the topic. This allows the customers to clearly see if the magazine is worth buying. The main photo is a MD (mid shot) of the band, and all 4 members are making eye contact with the camera, this creates an instant connection with them and the reader. As the main feature the band are in the dead centre of the cover with the features around their picture. There are 6 features illustrated on the cover, enough to convince a potential customer to pick it up and buy it.

Music Journalism

Nuts Magazine
Fifa 11 is the official game for football around the world. The game is designed mainly for males and teenagers who have a lot of spare time. This game can be played on Xbox 360, Ps3 and the Wii. It was released 28th Sept 2010 and a new edition is released each year approximately at the same time as its main rival, Pro Evolution Soccer. ‘Pro Evo’ is another football game in the market. Fifa 11 would be advertised in mainly men’s magazines such as Zoo, Nuts and FHM.

Hello Magazine
Sing Star is also a console game made for the Ps3, xbox and wii, but unlike Fifa 11, this game is aimed at woman/girls, so this game would be advertised in a female magazine such as Hello Magazine, a girls gossip and fashion magazine.

Mood Board

The demographic audience profile of my chosen magazine would look something like this; the age of the target audience would be 18-35 and would only target males, this magazine would not appeal to females. The majority of my target audience would live in suburban towns and cities and be single or divorced living in apartments/flats alone or with a friend. The social status of my audience would be D (Semi and unskilled manual workers), possibly working in factories or supermarkets.
The Psychographic profiles of my chosen magazine would be; mainstreamers (40% of the populations (the norm) and possibly the individuals, the younger generation, 18-21.The radio station my audience is likely to listen to in the mini cooper/ford focus ST would kiss radio or heart fm. The younger end of my audience would still live with their parents and enjoy going out clubbing and pub crawl, ‘with the lads’, whereas the older half of my audience would be single living in their apartment perusing the dead end of at Tesco’s. My audience are not healthy eaters or go to the gym, but enjoy Sunday league football at the weekends before heading to the local pub. Half of their wagers from Tesco would be spent of designer clothing and flash gadgets/phones.

Contents Page

The contents page continues to use the 3 main colours of the magazine, red, blue and black. The note pad the text is written on symbolises the student and the college environment as well as creating an offset look. The main picture is located in the top right, with the same student sitting against the spine of the magazine. Looking straight up at the camera creates a relationship between the magazine and the reader. Being a high shot gives the reader dominance. The tittle ‘speak’ is once again in the same colour and font, this is so the customers will recognise the magazine straight away. The page numbers are in red to stand out to the reader, and the main features continue to b blue. This keeps the reader engaged.

Front cover

The front cover of my college magazine ‘Speak’ has one main focus point, a picture of a student in a corridor. I have deliberately made the student stand out with the tittle by making the background black and white. The main 3 colours of my throughout my magazine is blue, red and black. This is so it doesn’t confuse the reader or look messy. The tittle ‘speak’ symbolises the ability of young adult such as students the right to voice their opinion and create their own magazine. The pose the student is doing shows conference, and a mid- shot allows the reader to connect with the magazine. Also, with the student looking directly at the camera intrigues the reader. The 5 main features of the magazine are printed on the left hand side of the magazine to entice the customer to but the magazine. The colourless background gives the cover a cold, ghost, this allows the customer to focus on the important information such as the tittle, features and the price. I have giving the price its own stand out colour (red) so it is the first thing the customer will see. This will hopefully convince the customer to pick up the magazine.

Tittle Font