Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel like there is a massive leap of quality with my final piece. Firstly, the ways in which I had my photo shoot organised was more professional with the music magazine which then lead to a much higher quality photograph which was also edited. The photo used for my preliminary task wasn't edited, hence showing the progression of quality.
- Not very attractive
- Not particularly stylish
- Background is full of shadows
- Wooden board across the models back not edited out of the shot
- More attractive model
- Stylish clothing and stance
- Zero shadow coverage on the background
- Edited to get rid of any blemished to the skin
- High quality camera used to take the shot
Secondly, with the production of my music magazine I showed a lot of my ideas which I had created and then doubled it with another idea to compare which one looks better. This shows I was much more thorough with the production of my magazine.
Finally, the ways in which I represented my audience in every was created a much bigger connection in relation to my preliminary task. This is proved further in my evaluation.
Technology wise I have learnt alot about the use of Publisher. I have learnt how to professionally create a piece that emulates real life media products.
I have also learnt alot about editing via photo shop and how to make an image look perfect even if the picture itself isn't 100% perfect.
With the magazine itself, I have learnt alot about fonts and colours. Making the right font is key to making the piece successfull, then you have to choose a colour which emulates the feel of the magazine and also will attract customers to make your product profitable. It takes time to do this and I have learnt how to take my time in choosing these particular things.
I have also learnt alot about camera's. The photographer which I used "Megan Purnell" taught me about how to use a camera in a studio with the use of lighting and how to capture the picture in the right way. This was vital to the production of my magazine as the front cover picture has to be captured in exactly the right way to attract and comply with my target audience.
The colour scheme I have used to attract is vital to the success of the magazine. I used a Gold throughout the entire piece as I feel the audience will connotate the colour gold with Winning and Accomplishment. Also the ways in which I comply with the genre with the use of Large and Thick Fonts throughout the piece will further attract my audience.
The front cover picture I have used is something that will attract and audience also. The use of photo shop to hide blemishes and make the model look as good as technologically possible will make the reader want to emulate such a look, leading them to buy the magazine over and over again to see if they are closer to conforming with the styles. Also the picture itself is a very inviting picture and the way it addresses the audience is through the way the model complieswith the genre of which the magazine is trying to relate with.
The double page spread article further addresses the audience with the content of the interview; using slang words and deficient codes of speech so the reader can understand, relate too and also emulate. The large quotes of certain lines used in the interview also addresses the audience as this is what will attract the reader to read the article, so I specifically used certain quotes of the interview which I thought would do this.
My questionnaire results showed that mostly males aged from 13-20 will be the target audience for a magazine of my particular genre.
This is the normal age group which most popular music magazines aim for, and I specifically will be aiming at this age range as the majority of people within that age range and within the genre of which I comply with WILL be interested in the content of my magazine. Obviously everyone is different, but I am 100% that we would appeal to everyone within this group, even if it was just the one interview/picture/band etc.
As answered in my first question, the social group I will be aiming for is the Popcore/Hardcore/Emo people who comply with all the styles to conform to this genre.
I would personally choose Bauer Media Group to publish my magazine. Magazines like Kerrang use this group which has clearly helped there company with profits and worldwide coverages.
This is a piece of information I have taken from their website: Bauer Media reaches over nineteen million UK adults across multiple media channels. We have more than eighty influential media brands spanning a wide range of interests
For me, they are the top dogs in the market which I want to enter, and with there vast client base it is a easy decision to choose them.
Also, on a competition basis, Kerrang could also start to feel the pressure of having a similar styled magazine associated with their publishers. This could lead to them making mistakes which could put their customers off their magazine, leaving Accolade Magazine to potentially pick up their falling customers.
The ways in which my media product uses forms and conventions of real media products is though the way each page is constructed. Each picture is placed specifically to either promote, attract or conform with the genre in which of which I have chosen, hence creating a magazine which can create profit and larger audiences. My front cover fits the conventions of an alternative magazine through the placement of the edited front cover piece. Other similar magazines uses similar looking models, similar editing tools and similar poses ie Kerrang/Rocksound, so in turn, my magazine would fit perfectly on a shelf next to real alternative music magazines. Finally, the ways in which I represent a particular social group through having my models dress and conform to wearing certain clothing within the genre fits the conventions of other media products as this is a standard and professional action to perform in creating such a product.
Similarities: Clear + edited fonts, front cover model placed specifically so information can be placed alongside to created sub - headings. Buzz words (FREE), Quality of picture taken (completely clear and HD) and also the ways each title never looks empty IE has a coloured square behind it or is placed on an angle.
I will show you the steps I took to create my final copy of my Double Page Spread. Firstly I will talk about the content. I Decided to interview myself and have the whole interview based around my band This Years Winner Is. I found this easier as I didn't need to find a band of similar genre, and with my band fitting the genre of the magazine so well it seemed like the right thing to do.
He're is some infomation of This Years Winner Is:
This Years Winner Is is a 5 piece pop - punk band hailing from the shores of the Isle Of Man. They regularly tour around the UK and Europe and are in persuite of "making it" after there release of there Debut Album. They formed in september 2010 and started a huge hype with there EP "In At The Weekend", having established reviewers such as Lushbeat and Alternative press dub it as the UK's best pop punk release, and also giving it a 4 and a half star rating out of 5. Playing comes naturally to them, and they love doing it, so I don't see them stopping anytime soon, which in turn makes there goals 100% achievable.
This was a photoshoot we orginised ourselfs in 2011 to keep fans interested and also further promote the band. The members are as follows:
Ethan - Guitar
Stuart - Bass
Elliot (myself) - Vocals
Ben - Guitar
Darren - Drums
We used all our own equipment to create this image ie lighting/camera/ tripod.
This is an image I created using Photoshop. It really represents the band well ie Blue skies = happy music. Its also easy on the eye and something younger customers would find appealing.
Music Video: "When In Rome"
These are the stages I took in creating the double page spread:
I edited this image so I could use the colour of the background as the canvas of the page. Also, I decided to place myself on the right side of the page because it will be the first thing a customer would see in opening the page, which is more inviting than a page full of words.
I tried to think of something quick and quirky for my heading so I used something which was relavant to the nature of the interview, and also something which fits the conventions of a real media product, ie its something that wouldn't look out of place in Kerrang/Rocksound.
The interview itself was easy to construct and the content is funny and easy to read. I chose the questions based on questions I see in Kerrang and also what I thought was a stereotypical question to see a band member to be asked in an interview. The convosatioin flowed and I think it serves its purpose extremely well.
I saw in many music magazines the notion of putting captions of the interview placed on the page in a larger font to stand out. The quotes usually used in magazines are there specifically to represent the artist in a certain way ie the quote could be something sexual to appeal to the opposite sex, or the quote could be funny to appeal to a certain group. It all depends on what type of genre of music the artist is in to determine which quote to use. I decided to try and use both a slight sexual appeal with " I have never sweated so much in my entire life!"... this can be related to both playing on stage or something of a sexual nature and I feel it fits the nature of the interview whilst also being a little bit edgy. My other quote "poor old lady", was purely used to represent the artist as a funny youth which relates to the young customer buying the magazine! It also has that edgy vibe to it also, and with it being highlighted I want the reader to think "that poor old lady? what the hell is that all about!" then read the entire article.
I noticed as I was printing off the double page spread that the black box around the line of the heading looked messy, so I changed into a different patter which looks much better. I have also just noticed that the interview itself is slightly out of place ie not centeral. Below is the finished copy of the piece.
I will show you all screen shots of the development of my front cover, including things which I change and things which I want to keep.
I have decided to use this particular image as I feel it highlights everything I want my magazine to comply with. The style of music genre which will be featured in this magazine is described as rocky & heavy yet with a touch of emotion and vibrance. In this picture it covers all of this ie
Rock: un-groomed bearded face with styled indie style hair cut
Heavy: Nose ring and the band which I am promoting on my T-Shirt is a heavy well known band
Emotion- The pose which is being displayed is very soft and inviting. Looking straight into the camara to connect with the viewer
Vibrance - The ways in which the photo is edited via photoshop gives the entire piece a glossy vinice and proffessional and bright finish. Also the colour of the words on the T-shirt came out very well on the camara and also gives that vibrant look/
I changed the size of the font and added a small title and a small hand out to fill the page up a little bit more.
I have added my regular content of "album of the week" with popular album titles to potentially raise the reader size whilst sticking within the type of genre.
I have changed the word hand out for magazine as the word hand out can be connotated as something different to what it is. Also I have created my masterhead and used the addition of a star to try and make it look unique and stand out from other magazines. I have used a Impact front and stretched it to give it an easy yet bold look and thickened the outline to give it more prominence as a brand logo. After deciding my colour scheme of gold/yellow, black and white, I tried to create a colour that was more than just a standard colour so I edited and added a black shading which I think makes it stand out alot more. I added my regular content of the album of the week and chose albums which 1. Complied with the type of music genre I am promoting & 2. Had colourful covers which fit my colour scheme of yellow/gold, white and black.
I have added my main feature on and placed it under the arm of the picture to make sure I don't ruine the picture. I used Berlin Sans FB Demi for all other headings ad I felt like it was similar to the masterhead but less prominent as I want the title itself to stand out more. I am using buzz words like FREE to gain more buyers and establish Accolade as a brand of magazine that gives something back to its customers.
I have added my Positioning Statement but I am un sure if it works. I will come back to it after I have worked on my contence page and work on it more.
This is my finialized plans for my magazine which I will be actioning. All of these final actions are based on results from my questionaire & my own interpretation from what a music magazine of this specific genre should look like.
Name: Accolade
Positoning Statment: Applaud with Honour
How Frequent will it be published?: After looking at my questionaire, most people seem to recieve music magazines once a month. I would feel it would be detrimental to the company to distribute this magazines weekly at the start of the business ventre as it would be too costly at this stage. If profits raise, then I may move to weekly distribution to try and reach more readers and a wider scale.
Price: Most people in the questionaire pay around £2-£2.50. I will sell my magazine at £3 as I think it is a price that wouldn't effect the pockets of readers too much and also ensure more capital into the business.
Distribution: During my research process, I found that Bauer Media Group are the best company to distibute my magazine. They work with lots of different magazines within the genres in which I want my magazine to conform with; such as "Kerrang"
Rationale: My magazine will be for teenagers - young adults within the alternative music genre. I want my readers to feel like they are at one with there alternative self in reading my magazine; this will be achieved by product placement & having alternative bands/models/merchindise placed within the magazine. This also brings profit to the magazine.
Regular Content: Album of the week award & regular updates of up and coming tours, one off shows and single releases. There will also be a place for readers to express their views on certain albums/tours/ shows etc. Every month there will be a free hand out ie poster, compilation CD, tour infomation.
Feature Content: Interviews with band members of the alternative genre, interviews with music producers and radio producers, once a year have an album of the year & have live pictures of shows which are played specifically for Accolade magazine with audience feedback.
Font: Masterhead: Impact
All others: Berlin Sans FB Semi
Colour: With the results of my questionaire in mind, I have decided to use Black, Yellow/Gold and White as my main colours. In all my questionaire results one of these colours came up, and when put together, they create a unique and professional look whilst also sticking to the guidlines of a alternative nature. I feel like I can produce a magazine that is completely definable and out of the ordinary with this colour scheme.
These are the pictures I will use for my front cover and double page spread. I decided that since my double page spread was going to be on my band "This Years Winner Is" that I would use myself as the front cover and have the photographer take certain shots from ideas which I had given her. The photographer was Megan Purnell.
I had a list of certain mid range and close range shots which I wanted her to take, whilst also exploring some longer rang shots which could be used in my double page spread. I brought a bubble blower as a prop to conform to font covers used in "Kerrang". They didn't turn out as well as I had hoped for a front cover, so I decided to use another picture as the front cover (I have marked which one below)
In each picture I wanted to encapsulate the viewer to automatically think of alternativness, attraction, fashion and youthfullness; all of which are physical connotations of my bands music & the music which will be promoted in my magazine.
I edited the image above as I will be using it as my font cover!
