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

I have become accustom to blogging regularly, through http://www.blogger.com/. Furthermore I have gained knowledge of how to take good pictures with the right angles and backgrounds in mind with a digital camera, and have then learnt how to upload the images onto the hard drive for use in my magazine. I have been able to edit certain images and titles on Microsoft Word by pasting the things that need editing onto there, whilst using the programme I have become accustom to changing backgrounds, giving images boarders, rotating or changing the contrast in the picture. I got my masthead for my front and contents page from http://www.dafont.com/. Finally I have been able to crop and edit certain elements out of images or titles through the programme Paint, such as making things smaller or enlarging them without the specific image going fuzzy with a poorer quality.

New Evaluation - How did you attract/address your audience?

By following the strict conventions of other popular music magazines, I attracted my audience. This was done by using the same colour scheme throughout, and also using the same styles of images so that the magazine would remain on its set task and would stay with the genre of Indie music, which the images highlighted so well with typical conventions of not just music such as having images in the studio but also having the guitar as a prop which gave the images and furthermore the magazine a conventional Indie feel. My masthead is also specifically important as with all magazines, if the masthead is not very good then it will not attract people into buying it. Therefore I made sure that my masthead would be of a high quality so that it would attract people into buying it as it would be eye-catching and also unique as it would make the target audience want to buy it because of the text of the masthead would be so stand out from other magazines as it has a distinct layering technique. I also had to have a intriguing headline that would make people want to buy the magazine with a guaranteed interesting story to capture them:

MR WILLIAMS MAKES HIS

COMEBACK!!

 I felt this was a particularly effective method of making the magazine a success as it gave it a selling point and underlined the main story inside. The text was in a bold, large stand out font "Rockwell Extra Bold" and it was a large size which would catch peoples eyes and make them want to purchase the magazine. The exclamation marks helped to add emphasis and it was also against a yellow background which black goes perfectly with as it is impossible not to see what it says and makes it very noticeable and gives it the effect that it is coming out of the page.

Images like this were used throughout my magazine to show "Mr Williams" as the main artist and also the artist that would be featured as the main story on the two paged spread. This would have got readers familiar with his looks, also able to recognise him for future reference and it builds a strong image in the readers head that he was a figure of importance and that he will be prominent throughout the magazine.

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

A media institution that would most likely distribute us would be a none biased or non-male/female orientated media institution as with Indie music it is very much unisex where people from both genders tend to listen to it and there is no major difference between the ratio of men to women who listen to Indie music. Also Indie acts can vary from male to female, however there does tend to be more male Indie stars than females and I have portrayed this point in my magazine as I have included males and females but the majority are males as they are more commonly seen. On the other hand this has no effect on its audience as it is very much balanced out with who listens to it.

New Evaluation - How does your media product represent particular social groups? & Who would be the audience for your media product?

My product represents the ever changing, reinventing social group of Indie people, that enjoy expressing themselves through their music. I decided to do a Indie magazine as I find the music enjoyable and there are always changes in that part of the music industry and it gave me more to talk about in my magazine due to the constant changes, which interested me. There are different styles of it, as at times it can be relaxing and soft whereas other times it can be booming and quite mesmerizing. This is perhaps why my magazine will only appeal to certain people who are knowledgeable about music as a whole but also Indie style music on its own, and it is perhaps best understood by younger generations as it is constantly developing and as a follower of it, needs to devote time in listening to new songs and becoming accustom to new artists that are appearing on a regular basis. It also appears best to young people as they are constantly in contact with music; through mp3's, television, radio stations and the internet. Indie music is seeing a rise in interest by people at the moment as it is now becoming fashionable to be different from the crowd and this would include listening to different types of music and expanding musical tastes and influences. So it is becoming widely spread through many different groups of young people. I found it a wise choice to do a Indie magazine as the style is on the uprising and will become even more popular over the coming years I feel. Traditionally the target audience would be people of a young generation such as late teens, and 20's as they are the main followers of Indie music in the present day. However the magazine caters for the person with only a slight interest in Indie to the avid fans, of all ages as it is not a challenging read and is easy to grasp as it has a simple layout and narrative, with little slang words used.

Here is an example of the language; in the contents the wording is simplistic and short so that it is easy to grasp and easy to navigate around the magazine as the page numbers are clearly marked.

I felt that my front cover held specific reference to Indie music as throughout the magazine there is a strong influence on guitars which is the main/most common instrument found on Indie tracks. Further more the names of the acts "The Updates" and "Mr Williams" are typical names for acts that you would see performing Indie music. Also the "NEW TALENT" box highlights that there is a constant renewal of talent in this part of the music industry with new acts coming through all the time. Finally "GIG DATES" was included because there are often gigs of upcoming or established Indie artists who perform on a regular basis, which was a key convention to include in my magazine as I wanted it to appeal to the social groups that would enjoy going to these gigs and have a interest in learning about them.

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

The final draft of my magazine follows the main conventions of a music magazine. It's specific traits to a music magazine is to advertise and promote certain types of music, to have interviews with musicians, to advertise upcoming gig's and tours and also to feature musical terminology and musical props. Another key element of music magazines is to follow a specific colour scheme throughout which I have used black, blue, yellow and green for so that the reader can identify my look straight away at first glance as my masthead will always feature the same style every month and will become the brand identification towards my magazine. My magazine specifically does not attempt to challenge any of the conventions of music magazines as with following normal conventions it is easier to know what sells to the public and what magazines are in high demand and popular with the majority of the public at this moment. Therefore I specifically tried to base my magazine around other popular magazines so that I knew it would be a success and also would guarantee sales and be a success in the eyes of others. I did not try to reinvent conventions with it as it would have been a gamble in whether it would have been a success and whether it would have been a hit with other people in terms of interesting them and being appealing. I feel that my magazine looks traditional to the Indie music scene and upholds key points of it. This is why I have had to change the design of my title a couple of times, in order to meet the criteria of the Indie style but not to be complex so that it loses signs of originality.

Originally I went with the first one but I thought it looked a little boring and very simplistic that it would not appeal to many people. Afterwards I thought about the second one as I thought it looked authentic and the type of title you would see placed on a Indie magazine but then I began to doubt it as it looked a little decorative and old fashioned for a style of music which is constantly reinventing itself and therefore I wanted a more modern look. This pushed me and made up my mind that the third one was the best as it looked like a new style and I also felt it would drag in my intended audience that was for teens and young adults. I then tripled it to match the name of the title which I thought would cement a young persons view into buying it as I thought they would understand and relate to it but also give them a sense of maturity and intrigue. I based my look on some of the typical conventions of the "NME" magazine.

New Evaluation - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? (Changes in comparison to previous magazine)

I found it more useful to compare my old magazine to my new one instead of the preliminary task, due to a previous post comparing my older magazine to my preliminary task.

I feel that my new magazine is far better than my previous one as I have spent more time on perfecting it and have also followed the conventions of a typical music magazine such as "Q" or "NME". I have also focused on enhancing my colour schemes so that the same style is seen throughout and also contains more detail and looks more like a magazine found in a shop on general sale. I feel that my front page is key for this portrayal as everything has been built upon, such as the title and masthead being more convincing and appealing. Now the title has been reworked to have 3 layers which represents "Treble" and makes it stand out from the page more and will have more of a interesting look. The masthead is now larger and been completely redone to enhance the new colour scheme which makes it more eye-catching to audiences. I also feel that the headline and what is being advertised in the magazine is more attractive and furthermore will make people convinced that they will want to read the inside articles and receive the free content. I feel that "FREE THIS WEEK: 2 SIDED POSTER OF "THE UPDATES" IN THE STUDIO FOR THEIR UPCOMING ALBUM!" is a good way of advertising "The Updates" and is also a good selling point for readers of the magazine and also fans of "The Updates". People who have an interest in "Mr Williams" and his story would be roped into reading the magazine and is a sure way to raise sales as he is the magazines main feature and is covered in the two page spread.

The Contents page now looks like a official, well made contents page instead of a cheap and tacky version with little intriguing stories and news. It also contains more images than before and the whole page has been completely reinvented and now looks quirky and interesting; setting up the reader for the rest of the magazine. I feel that the dividers of each section on the new one and also the variety and depth within each article on offer really adds a freshness to the magazine and the colours make it feel vibrant and like a good read, with all the offers and short sharp information which is just what my contents needed to make it straight to the point of interest for the readers as they want to get to their preferred part of the magazine as quickly as possible. It is stark contrast to its dull, boring and bleak predecessor.

 

 

I feel that the 2 page spread has drastically improved as it now has a catchy headline which acts to draw the readers into reading the article. Moreover it has a nicely worked colour scheme that fits the conventions of a typical magazine as it keeps the four main colours throughout the magazine (green, yellow, black and blue) rather than the dull brown of the previous one and also without the badly wrote quotes, such as "I'm better than ever". Another improvement made that is absolutely crucial in a magazine is having columned writing, which did not feature at all in my last magazine and another criticism would be the font I was using for some of the text which was "Times New Roman" which is a really uninteresting font for a magazine that would instantly switch off readers attentions, therefore I chose to incorporate bold and strong writing to keep readers interested and also capture them throughout the two page spread.

To conclude this section, I feel that my new magazine has been a great improvement on my other one as it has the ability to capture the audience and also to stand out from other magazines as it follows and builds upon the typical conventions of a magazine. Unlike my old magazine that was unlike any magazine that was out there, which was why it was not held in high regard, this magazine follows a strong tie to indie/rock magazines as that was the look I wanted to achieve and to stay close to its particular style, while putting my own uniqueness into it which came across in the text and also the colours were slightly different to what you would normally see, such as green and yellow instead of the common and perhaps over used red and black "NME/Q" style that is already on the market.

Update on Progress for Media Magazine and Re-evaluation

Last year I did not get the grade I wanted for Media Studies, and it was the quality of my magazine that was poor and brought my grade down, therefore I have decided to resubmit my Foundation Portfolio, which will show the changes and improvements made to my magazine in comparison to last year and also a re-evaluation of it.

Updated 2 Page Spread

2 Page Spread

We caught up with the busy man Mr Williams who kindly gave up a few minutes of his time to tell us how his new album “The Little Things” is coming along and how he felt returning to music after 4 years out.

Q) How do you feel about your new album?

I feel good about “The Little Things” because I’ve put in so much work into making it the standard that it is right now, all 10 tracks are completed, well I say completed, you are never really finished with a song, there are always constant little tweaks and adjustments you are trying to make. But I am relatively happy with what I’ve got at the moment but I dare say I will make a few more edits to what I have got at the moment before it is released to the general public, I feel there are a few problems with the pitching of the percussion as the sound quality is not perfect in my eyes, there’s a couple of pitching issues (laughs).

Q) Why did you decide to return after a 4 year break?

I came back because making music and singing is my passion and it’s the one true thing that I feel I’m invincible when doing it, when I sing to a live audience I think “there is no better feeling than this”. It is truly gratifying as I feel that giving people something to talk about or reflect on is the best thing somebody can do with their lives, I am still only young at 23 but I feel that by making records for people to remember and sing-along to is part of a massive legacy of music and I hope to still be making music for the next few years to really cement myself into the industry and to put my own mark on the musical legacy.

Q) Do you regret leaving the industry?

Well yeah, it’s just one of those things that you have to get on with though, and I mean sometimes I think “where would I be if I had never left?” But really it’s just pointless in thinking like that, I could have been further in my career but the way I look at it is that the time can be rebuilt in the future, I can be around for 4 more years and get to the position that I would be now. In fact I could be even better as in the time I have had off gave me time to mature and become more independent and it really gave me a idea in where I wanted to go with my music and what I wanted to do with it.

Q) What did you do during your break?

Oh gosh! You know what right, it started off as nothing, and I would literally do nothing for days on end, just sit around the house watching television. Or I would go out and party hard until the early hours of the morning. But then after 6 months of this it became boring and my body couldn’t handle it, I felt drained all the time and I looked a scruffy mess. I decided to fill in the empty space with a job, so originally I became a waiter in a restaurant which was pretty good, meeting new people but the problem was everybody recognised me and I could not get away from them, I would be bringing out dishes and drinks and people would be getting in my way and asking for autographs so it became a bit of a nightmare job after a while. I needed a lower profile job, where people wouldn’t stop me in the middle of doing something, so I decided to be a courier. People didn’t really see me as I was just dropping something off or picking something up. But as I was on the road for long hours, I had time to think and I decided to go back to music.

Q) Finally, will we be seeing you at any festivals next year or have you got a tour lined up?

Well (laughs) if all goes to plan I am lined up for the Reading Festival next year during the summer so I do look forward to that. And also I will be going on a global tour either at the end of next year or the start of 2013 so hopefully that goes to plan, because it’s going to be absolutely huge, I am looking to finish up in the UK and tour the whole country from top to bottom performing in all major cities.

Ok Mr Williams, we look forward to that greatly. Thank you for your time.

Ok thank you.

Mr Williams’ Album “The Little Things” is to be released January 2012.

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

My magazine has an authentic style for a music magazine. It has iconic elements that would be used in a magazine, such as articles, contents, front cover and iconic images for a music magazine, for instance having a recording studio in the photo set. I have thrown in eye catching elements, which would attract the reader into reading articles. Furthermore I have used the magazine's logo on every page, which the reader will be able to recongnise and see what type of magazine it is because it relates to the brand identification. I wouldn't say my media product challenges the conventions of a typical music magazine but it certainly follows them and develops them, it hasn't done anything different that wouldn't be seen in a typical magazine. Anything new or ground breaking that could have been done, would at some point be linked back to a music magazine somewhere in time because music magazines have so many similarities, it is unusual to come up with a new idea but instead are just written or approached in a different way. However I feel that my magazine would be viewed as a typical and traditional hip hop magazine and that it shows and expands on authentic traits of hip hop music, such as the title "Treble" which sounds like it has something to do with the urban music scene but it also sounds original and shows that creativity can be found in a music magazine.

Originally I planned to have the top design as my masthead but I thought it looked more suitable for a younger persons magazine as the design looks more eye-catching for a child's point of view, this led me to pick the bottom design as it looks more authentic to the music genre and I also added a variety of different colours so that it would standout to a audience and with the neon glow around the title, which would draw the readers into purchasing it as it looks more adult and it also looks more suitable for a hip hop magazine as it follows key conventions of other hip hop magazines (such as "VIBE") that I have analysed earlier in my blog.

Magazine Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents a urban and modern up-to-date social group, this is because the hip hop genre is a very changeable style of music and a constantly different feel to it, sometimes it can be soft and other times it can be intense, this is why it needs a very quick and understanding audience, that are going to hear new songs in the hip hop style all the time. Therefore it is most likely listened to by young males from inner city areas, this is because of the constant contact they have with music, whether it's over the internet, radio or television, there is a strong garuntee that they will come into some hip hop musical contact throughout the day because the sound of hip hop is so global and it's also promoted very well. The hip hop genre is furthermore know by young males because many of their friends listen to it and therefore it would have an influence for them to listen to it and it would spread from all different types of male social groups. To conclude this, there are also female social groups that like the hip hop genre and would therefore listen to it over various different types of media, but this group would possible be more limited than the male group. Therefore my media product doesn't represent a social group, instead it represents a variety of different younger generations of social groups.

My front cover was a perfect example of how my magazine represented social groups, you can tell from the title "Treble" that it surrounds the hip hop genre. This is because the style of hip hop  incorporates a lot of treble and base into it so I thought it was fitting to name it after a iconic convention. The reader can also make links that it's directed at a urbanised audience that expect it to be a hip hop magazine because my models impose themselves onto the scene and give the cover a serious look, furthermore to garuntee the iconography of hip hop i got them to dress up in dark baggy clothing which is commonly seen in hip hop music videos.

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

I think that the Bauer Media Group would be the most likely distributors of my magazine, this is because Bauer publish men's magazines and don't publish in the female category of magazines. I feel that my magazine is aimed at a more male orientated music audience, a greater proportion of men would be likely to buy "Treble" than females. This is due to the fact that it is a hip hop music magazine and more men tend to listen to hip hop music than women. Also the artists and images featured in my music magazine are all males, this is due to it being a very male dominated type of music, with very few female hip hop artists. This would be less persuasive for most women to buy it over men because if they see images of men throughout the whole magazine they might feel uncomfortable and out of place reading it. To sum up the above reasons in why I think it would be published by Bauer is because in essence it is targeted at a male group.

Magazine Evaluation: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that my media product would be aimed at are; people who are interested in music and specifically hip hop music, typically this would be targeted at a young audience such as teenagers or people in their 20's. This is because traditionally it has always been a audience around that age that show an interest in the hip hop genre. However the magazine can be for any audience who shows a interest in the hip hop genre, from the casual fans to the veteran supporters. Readers can get engrossed in it, and it doesn't matter if you don't know much about hip hop as it isn't an advanced reading subject and is easy to understand. It does use slang words though, that would possibly be used by the younger generation but it isn't confusing to older readers understanding, as the slang is easy to get to grips with. Therefore the magazine is traditionally aimed at a young generation but older people can read as it is easy and light reading, with short, sharp statements and sentences.

My "Top Topics" section of my contents page shows what kind of audience I was aiming my magazine at, "interviews with some of the biggest rappers in the UK" and "LEGEND reveals his new type of rapping" implies that it is a hip hop magazine. I was careful in making my genre known throughout production of my magazine, I feel that I mentioned typical conventions of hip hop through the duration of my magazine, I did this so that my reader could feel at ease reading my articles and so that the articles always remained on the topic.

Magazine Evaluation: How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted my audience to my magazine by using eye-catching colours against a darker background, which stands out as a music magazine because it follows a trend of other music magazines. I changed the design of my masthead and filled it with lots of different colours with a dark glow around it, which gives it a distinctive look and gives it the impact of coming out of the front cover, this is implying that it has a 3D tint to it with all the different colours. I also layered star shapes into the background of my main image of the magazine, which has the same effect as the title; the image is pushed out of the page and is to draw the audience in and convince them to buy it. Moreover I have included eye catching statements on the front cover which makes the audience want to purchase and read the magazine. Elements like

42 Hip Hop songs You Need to Listen To!

helps to draw the reader in and convinces them to read on, I created this text by just changing the font to "Comic Sans MS" and changing the colour of the text to a light blue, this portrayed my magazine as a standout cover, as the contrast between the blue text and blue background helped it appeal well to target audiences. Also I have addressed my audience by creating a interview with a fictional hip hop artist, this takes up my 2 page spread and enables me to show the readers that I'm aiming this at them so that they can learn about the artists story and also how to break into the music industry. Images of my music artist are featured throughout my magazine, showing him as the key feature and main attraction of my magazine, the audience would realise this and if they were undecided on purchasing the magazine then the interview would be the deciding factor on whether they would buy it or not, if they had an interest in the artists life then they would buy it. On the other hand if they weren't interested they would be less inclined to buy the magazine.



This is the final and completed front cover for my music magazine, I made quiet a few changes to it from my original draft, this was due to the feedback I received which implied that the front cover of my magazine was dull and not appealing to the target audience which were young hip hop enthusiasts. People said that on my original draft, the colours that I used didn't enhance the strengths of my magazine and that I was using weak colours on a dark background. This persuaded me to change around some things on my magazine; such as the background was changed to light because the image was dark, I also had really bright colours put against the dark image so that it gives it a standout appeal. 

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

I have learnt how to use a blog via the website http://www.blogger.com/. Also Macromedia Fireworks and Photoshop helped me edit things like my masthead, subtitles and my images. I got the logos for my masthead and subtitles from dafont (http://www.dafont.com/) and created the name for my magazine. I also gave the titles and page numbers borders by pasting them onto Microsoft Word and changing their design, with this I also coloured the border and the words with a range of different colours from Word. On Photoshop I edited peoples faces to make it look more colourful, I did this by copying a certain part of their face and then using that skin tone on other parts of their faces. Furthermore I got rid of backgrounds by using fireworks, with the application tool called "magic wand". This erases the background and leaves it with nothing behind the image I want to keep.

Magazine Evaluation: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

From my prelimenary task I felt my magazine didn't use authentic and iconic magazine styles for the school magazine genre, the stories that it offered weren't eye catching and I felt that I could improve them for my full product. I learnt to have more iconic photos for my main magazine and speak about more interseting articles in my main product, also I used eye catching statements and colours aswell that I didn't use in my preliminary task. I didn't edit my pictures in my priliminary task but then I learnt that using the programme Macromedia Fireworks (http://tryit.adobe.com/fireworks/)  helped me to edit my images so I could get rid of any red eye, or any background I didn't want, such as the green screen. Also another thing I learnt was having a more convincing and traditional front cover with a more genuine masthead.

 

 

 

The top image is of my preliminary task and the bottom image is of my finished music magazine, I feel that there has been a vast improvement from my preliminary task and I now feel that my music magazine looks like a magazine that somebody would purchase in a store. I feel that it uses key conventions and signifiers at a professional level compared to a lower quality in the preliminary task.

Music magazine questionnaire for feedback and improvements

Magazine Questionnaire

1) Is this an iconic music magazine?

2) What are the magazines strong points?

3) How could it be improved?

4) Does it look like a typical music magazine from the hip hop genre?

5) Do you think it’s aimed at a particular age audience? If yes, how old approximately?

6) Do you think that it is aimed at either sexes or one more than the other?

7) If it wasn’t aimed at both sexes, would you like to see more female artists in the magazine?

8) Would you be prepared to buy the magazine monthly or a one off if something interested you inside it?

9) Would you like to see more pictures or more text?

10) Would you like to have more information on live music?

Questionnaire Feedback

To improve my magazine I need to edit my masthead, by cropping out the white patches. Also my front cover image is too small and needs to fill the front page completely. Moreover I need to check and change the layout of my writing and fix any spelling mistakes, this could include re-wording some sentences, so they make sense. Furthermore I need to get rid of some green bits around the images as it gives it a neon colouring, which I don't want.The positives of my magazine are that it looks like a authentic music magazine and also my pictures are of a decent standard and aren't pix-elated. Lastly I would grade my magazine at around a D grade, I would like to achieve at least a C grade.

My Magazine - The Original Draft and the Finished Product

The pictures on the left are from the original product, whereas the pictures on the right are from the finished product. The front cover of the magazine has been the page that has mostly changed, this was due to feedback from classmates who said that it didn't look like a official magazine that would be bought in stores, it had too much information in the form of text so i decided to change it to short, sharp and intriguing statements. Also the colour of the red text didn't have eye-catching features against the background as it was originally a dark background, I decided to get rid of all the text along the side as there was too much of it, and I also put in a free offer for posters which is a ploy that magazines use to sell their product, this implies that my magazine follows the conventions of a typical music magazine. I have removed the stars out of the background because there seemed to be too many things going on, on the front cover so that the reader may not of been able to focus on one specific part of the colour. I furthermore enlarged the image of my two artists as it was too small and didn't cover the whole page and left too many blank spaces that wouldn't be seen on a typical music magazine.

I only changed minor things on the contents pages such as the colour and style of the font, I changed the colour because red didn't contrast well to the light blue background and the style was made more bold so that it would stand out to the readers and draw them, it was also a more simple style so that it was easier to read because in my feedback, people said that they had difficulty reading it as the writing was small and cramped. My two page spread didn't follow typical conventions of magazines as it didn't originally have columns and the image on the second page wasn't facing into the magazine but facing off the page, I felt that this photograph put readers off because psychologically the photograph was facing the wrong way, as in if the image was facing the off the page then it wouldn't capture the reader to make them read on in the interview. I also change some of the font colours to make things stand out and also change the layout of some pictures to make it look more like a conventional magazine. I used photoshop to edit some of my pictures as some of my models had red eye in certan images, other pictures had certain blemishes on their faces from the camera flash. Here is a link to where you can download photoshop http://tryit.adobe.com/uk/photoshopfamily/?sdid=IBFIW. I used Microsoft publisher for my main development for my magazine and I put all of my work onto publisher, this is because getting used to publisher is easy and also the options on publisher are simple to use. Here is a link that can download you the publisher service: http://emea.microsoftstore.com/UK/en-GB/Microsoft/Publisher-2010