What have I learnt?

• Since my preliminary task, I believe I have improved and learnt a lot more about technology and particular computer software. For example: Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. I also think I have gained a good understanding about the photography side and took into account the lighting etc, to ensure my pictures/images are high quality and professional looking.

• Fourtunately, I took Media Studies for GCSE so I already had gained some understanding beforehand. However, I still picked up new skills throughout the process. Especially in this recent project with the computer software.
• For instance, I learnt new skills and how to work and use the different tools that I never understood before in Photoshop and InDesign. This helped hugely and benefitted my photos and layout in the project a lot. It made the whole process seem more tidy, professional and a higher standard of quality.
• In my preliminary task I didn't use these two softwares because I didn't feel confident enough to be able to work them. I would use software such as Paint, Microsoft Office Word, Microsoft Office Powerpoint and Microsoft Offic Publisher. Although I still use these programs I am happy I have learnt and become more familar with Adobe Softwares as this will help me with future work.
• However, now I believe I would be able to make any projects I choose to make and create in these softwares look appealing as I have gained confidence in how to use particular tools and how to overall make the design and layout look top quality.

 

 

 



How does your media product represent particular social groups?

• I believe my media product represents teenagers/young adults who are interested and enjoy listening to different types of rock music, like my target audience who I am aiming my magazine at. 
• I think I have highlighted which social groups are represented through images, design and layout, also the particular articles and artists/bands I included. 
• From using darker colours and bold fonts, it contributed to the layout and house style of a traditional rock magazine.
• The fact I used a young model (teenage/young adult) it will appeal to my audience and potentially the older teenage girl social group represented. If I had used a younger/older model it wouldn't have been as appealing the that social group and the target market of my magazine. 
• There is a very prominent, stereotypical view on people who enjoy rock music, or subgenres of rock music like grunge and punk. 
• I tried to include different types of styles into my magazine to represent all the subgenres and appeal to all the social groups. 
• When I was initially research and planning my product, I kept and open mind and ensured to cover and fulfill these different subgenres to make my magazine open to many people and social groups, not just my target audience. 

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

From doing this product, I believe I have become more experienced with some computer software such as Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. Although I also used some other software that I am more familiar with such as Paint, Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint. I think because I used software that I was both familiar and not familiar with, it made creating my magazine product was more fun and slightly challenging.

It also allowed with to experiment with different pictures and texts on different software. For example my first design idea on Adobe InDesign included a different image than I chose at the end of my project. It allowed me to create variety and conceive different ideas and layouts until I was happy with the appearance of my magazine.  

Adobe InDesign Initial Idea                              My Final Idea  

In Adobe InDesign I learnt how to use many new techniques to make my product look professional and good quality. For exmaple, adding text in a high standard way, and copying and pasting images over each other without any loss in quality or making the page untidy/blurry etc.

Another example of a product I changed and improved using Adobe InDesign and Microsoft Word.

My First Contents Page Idea                           My Final Idea

I changed my contents page design, theme and layout quite a lot. I am happy with my finished page and believe it shows portrays my house style and magazine style well. Without experimenting with different software and programs first I don't think my finished product would be what is it finally.

When it comes to photography, I was lucky enough to have a good quality, DSLR camera. This made my images look a lot more professional and of a higher standard quality. I was extremely happy with my images and how they turned out. However, if I were to do the project again I would take more pictures because sometimes I felt like I was re-using the same images over and over again.

I am happy with my model choice because I think Rachael conveyed the perfect image for my feature article that I was aiming for. I think the images support and correspond with the house style and theme/layout of the magazine. 

My First Feature Article Idea

 

My Final Feature Article Idea

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However, I did also struggle with the software at times. For example: Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop. This is when I would turn to Microsoft Word and PowerPoint to use the tools on there, which I was more familiar with. Although the standard isn't as professional on Microsoft products, I don't think this affected my pages at all, and if anything made them better because I was confident with what to do and how to improve my pages with these specific programs. 

 

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

Bauer – A multinational media company. It serves in the publishing and broadcasting industry, operating in 16 countries worldwide. It was founded in 1875. Worldwide circulation of Bauer Media Group’s magazine titles amounts to 38 million magazines a week altogether. They employ around 6,400 people and have a revenue turnover of of €2.129 Billion (2010). The headquatres are located in Hamburg,Germany. However, they serve many other areas including: Europe, USA, China and Russia. It distributes some of the most popular magazines such as Q, Kerrang! and Grazia. They also have subsidiaries such as Bauer Radio and Box Television which is 50% of their stake. Box Television includes 4Music, Kerrang!, The Box, Smash Hits and Magic.

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/

 

 

IPC – IPC was founded in 1958 in the United Kingdom. It is a consumer magazine and digital publisher. It has a large portfolio and sells over 350 million copies each year. It distributes many popular magazines that vary in genre and style. For example the magazines range from targetting the mass market of women, to upmarket women and then magazines aimed at men. Some of the most popular magazines distributed include: Marie Claire, InStyle, Pick Me Up!, Now and NME. They provide mass market and niche genres of magazine. Proving variety and different magazines for different people.
 

http://www.ipcmedia.com/

 

• Out of the two media institutions mentioned above, I believe I would choose Bauer Media to distribute my product. This is because it distributes both Kerrang! and Q. These are both successful, leading music magazine which have a strong group of consumers and supporters.
• I believe picking Bauer would be the best option for my magazine product, and would ensure it would to distributed professional due to it being so mass market. Although my magazine genre wouldn't be considered mass, I still believe many different people would be interested in it and choosing Bauer Media would make sure it was distributed well.
• I can also imagine my target audience purchasing more magazine that are distributed by Bauer (Kerrang!), so it would make sense to choose it. Although Kerrang! is fairly similar to my magazine, they vary is target audience and therefore there is a gap in the market for my magazine.
• Although IPC also publishes significant music magazines like NME, I don't think it would be the most suitable and appropriate choice out of the two due to Bauer distributing more and having more 'happening' in the company. It overall seems more appealing and appropriate to pick for my magazine.
• I believe Bauer would invest because my magazine has a slightly different approach to the market than other rock magazines like Kerrang!. For instance, my primary target audience is young adults/teenage girls. Whereas Kerrang! is initially aimed at the male gender.
   

 

Conventions & House Style

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

• For my final page designs I took a lot of inspiration from magazines such as Kerrang! and Rock Sound.

• I decided to pick these magazines to look into and study the layout of because of the relevance in genre. Another reason I thought these magazines would be appropriate to use as a guideline is because of the images and text. In my planning I decided on what I was aiming for text and photo wise, I thought it would be suitable to look at particular magazines such as Kerrang! to make my magazine look as professional as I could possibly make it.

• Due to using key magazine conventions from other magazines, I believe my final product looks very traditional in sense of fitting into a rock genre music magazine.

• For example: I used dark colours, bold fonts and made the text informal.

From my labelled front cover you can see I have included many key magazine conventions, however I have also left some out. For example: Puffs and a magazine Slogan. This is because I thought the front cover worked without it, and it already has enough going on and I think it would look too busy and cramped if I added any more text/images etc. 

• For my contents page and feature article page I thought it was important to include as many key conventions as possible. This is to keep the pages looking traditional yet professional. I am happy with the outcome of my pages in this way.

• For my feature article I made sure I used the conventions you find in a lot of magazines for this page. For example: a drop cap, text grabs and a main dominant image of the article is referring to.

• I originally had my image for my feature article on the other side, because the right side of the page and the facing page for the reader. However I decided to switch my image to the left page because overall the layout and presentation looked better.

• My house style is also very prominent in both my contents page and feature article. In particular the colours red, black and white. I didn’t use a fluent font throughout my magazine though because I had issues with editing the background to make it match and fit with different colours. Next time, I believe I would look harder to find a more suitable font that I could use throughout to make my house style stronger and more fluent.

• I took a lot of inspiration from Kerrang! Magazine for my contents page, in particular the main image at the top. I thought it looked appropriate and suited the magazine, and therefore wanted to incorporate something similar in my design/layout. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

Why Does My Contents Page Appeal to My Target Audience?

Why Does My Feature Article Appeal to My Target Audience?

How Does My Front Cover Appeal to My Target Audience?

Target Audience

Who would be the audience for your media product?

• My original target audience for my magazine was older teenage girls (16-20 years old). I decided on this age group and gender due to there being no other magazine in the market of this description. I think I’ve stuck to the target audience that I originally had in mind and made a suitable magazine for them.

• Although I do believe my magazine would also appeal to the opposite gender as well because it is not overly girly at all, it includes information, bands and music that both genders enjoy. Even though I was aiming for a slightly more feminine audience, after finishing my product and over looking it, I definitely think the target audience is shared between both genders.

• The reason I think my target audience is more shared out is because although I’ve stuck to my originally planned colour scheme and image style, when I placed them together and laid them out, it looked appropriate for both genders and possibly an older audience too. I didn’t think it would at first, hence why picking such a specific gender and age range.

Feature Article

Contents Page

Front Cover