Replacement photos

In order to replace the photos of the model I used several times on my contents page, I used another model and took photos of him.

Contents page redraft

I changed the lower right image of my contents page as it was the same model as my cover. I stuck to the model I used as a "poster exclusive" to continue my theme. I changed the image and I changed the text under page 13 as it said "Rebecca on drugs" which would no be relevant therefore I changed it to "Ali and his weight loss" to keep it relevant. I also decided to change back to my old colour scheme of a grey background with white text rather than a white background with black writing as I felt it look too plain and boring.

Cover redraft

I had to change the photo in the top right hand corner as I used the same model as I have as my main photo. I chose to use this photo as it is a conventional pose for a male model in a magazine. Although this drifts away from my main magazine theme, I would use this image to represent weight loss in a famous male artist.

Double page spread flat plan

Unfortunately I was unable to rotate my original flatplan therefore it had to be deleted. I proceeded to try and create a new one however I wasn't able to upload it via blogger and I tried various methods such as scanning, taking photos and creating one on Paint. The only one that would allow me to upload was Paint. Although this is not ideal as I would have liked to have added more detail than I could on a computer, it is all I could upload. 

 

Contents changes

 

There are not a lot of changes I was able to make to my contents page until I have more photos however I changed my background colour to suit the house theme and to follow my cover, I also changed the colour of the writing from white to black as it wasn't visible when the background colour changed.

Changes to front cover

 

I added more feature articles and added another banner at the bottom showing other featuring bands, this is a common features of magazines such as "top of the pops", it gives the reader an idea of what's inside before they've actually read the magazine and is more likely to sell the magazine, I also repositioned the barcode and the price. I resized my background picture and changed the colour of my background from grey to white as it is a more common and selling colour for a magazine. I removed my poster example and I replaced it with a black space keeper until I get another photo taken to put in its place.

Changes

Upon looking at my final pieces there were faults I decided that needed to be addressed before I was able to say I was finished.

The first big change I need to make is taking more photos. I realised that using the same model on my cover and on my contents page with a different person would loose me marks and looks unprofessional. I will take more photos of different models and edit them into my magazine. I need at least 5 pictures to cover the ones I have already used.

Another fault I picked up on was that my front cover looks extremely bare, I need to add more features onto it to fill up face in order to make it look like an actual magazine.

Feedback questionnaire results

Magazine feedback questionnaire

Gender

Male                                                      Female

Age

_____________

Did you like the genre of music featured?

Yes                                                         No

Did you like my theme?

Yes                                                         No

Did you like my images?

Yes                                                         No

Would you buy my magazine?

Yes                                                         No

What is the most you’d pay for my magazine?

£1-2                       £2-3                       £3-4                       $4+

Which did you prefer?

Cover                    Contents             Article

What did you like about my cover?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did you like about my article?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What did you like about my contents page?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What didn’t you like about my cover?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 What didn’t you like about my contents page?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What didn’t you like about my article?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer 7

Question 7

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

Answer 6

Question 6

What have you learned about new technologies from the process of creating this product?

Answer 5

Question 5

  How did you attract/address your audience?

Answer 4

Ideally my primary audience will be male or female between the ages of 14 and 20 that are interested in music, socialising, social networking, gigs and festivals. They wont have a huge amount of income at their disposal however the money they do have will be spend on things such as magazines, CD’s, downloads, gig/festival tickets, merchandise, travel and going out with friends.

However my secondary audience could include anybody older that happens to be interested in the music featured in my magazine. They may also enjoy listening to music but not hearing it live. They might rather spend time alone than with friends and spend their money on clothes and shopping than on things in my primary audience.  They may also be choosing to buy the magazine because of a certain feature or artists rather than a monthly buyer.

Question 4

What would be the audience for your media product?

Answer 3

I think the most likely company to publish my magazine would be IPC media. After completing my research I found that the only magazine in their brands remotely close to my genre of music was NME.

My magazine would be different to NME as it has a completely different audience. I aimed my magazine at teenagers between 14 and 20, although there is a magazine called TeenNow aimed at teenagers, my audience will appreciate different music and it is aimed at both genders.

I think producing my magazine would close the gap in the market as IPC currently have no rock/indie magazines aimed at such a young age group. There is not a lot of current competition for magazines of my kind so the company would profit from distributing my magazine. 

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?

Answer 2

I think my magazine represents an indie/rock youth subculture. It will be read by teenagers between the ages of 14 and 20 who enjoy the music and bands being featured, they will probably read it to get the latest news on their favourite artists or to stay in the loop on what’s going in the genre. They will read it with friends most likely or share it with their friends once they have finished. It represents these as I chose to use models in the same age range wearing clothes that my audience are likely to wear. I also targeted these through the style of music and bands I chose.

It also represents working class boys and girls, it is affordable and it is aimed at both genders to read with each other and share the gossip and news. It could also be read by people outside my target class however I chose to aim it at working class kids as most magazines now are either too expensive or uninteresting for them. I created a product that will be affordable and intriguing for both male and female and I think the content represents this.

I think my article is both inspirational and aspirational. It shows two teenagers finally making it big after a struggle with drugs and alcohol at such a young age, many of my readers will be able to relate to this and if they see their idols pulling through and doing well for themselves. I chose to write my article about young artists as it will be more relatable for my audience and it will be able to inspire them to do the same or give them someone to aspire to. It will be able to help young people facing the same problems pull through and give people not facing the same problems information and someone to find inspirational. It appeals to a wider audience as it will reach their fans, people going through problems and other people wanting to find out more, I think including a bad past in any article will reach a wider audience within the target range. It will also reach aspiring edm artists, if they see other people their age making it big through YouTube and Soundcloud it will hopefully inspire them to try and do the same, they will think they can also do it if there are people who have been through a lot who can do it.

Question 2

How does your media product represent social groups?

Answer 1

My front cover uses a lot of conventional features found in magazines that are already on the market. There are the obvious features such as a title, photo and features but there are also other features such as banners, smaller feature photos, barcodes, prices and issue numbers. It also follows a common colour scheme of many magazines. Red, black and white was chosen by my target audience and I chose to follow this in order to make it more appealing to my target audience and their age range. It also represents what I want my magazine to portray, the colours are usually associated with rock and indie music which is what is featured in my magazine so I intend for my audience to be able to look at it and know exactly what type of music is in it before they get close.

My contents page uses features such as titled introductions, feature listings, images, subscriptions and social media contacts. These are all found in every single magazine already on the market and I again followed my house theme through to this by sticking to red, white and black. I also have an added feature of a band index which is common in magazines such as NME, I chose to do this so my audience have a feature that is not found in every magazine however my target audience will probably already read NME therefore it is a feature they are used to and they know how to use effectively, it is also a feature that is simple enough for people that are not used to them to be able to use.

My article has conventional features such as the artist name, images, columns and a story. I think I have developed the idea of a two page spread by dedicating one side of my page to images of the band rather than spreading them out across the two pages, this makes it look neater and follows the conventions of my magazine. The images were put in line and are arranged which I think represents the story written on the opposite page as they are talking about finally getting their lives back in line and they’ve straightened themselves out. The story is similar to those found in other magazines; it talks about a band finally making it after years of struggle with drugs and alcohol which is common in rock magazines. The layout is similar to that of other magazines as it all arranged in columns under a bigger heading introducing the band.

I challenged the conventions of pre-existing magazines on my article by putting the band name above the images on the left hand side of the page rather than above the story on the right like most magazines do. I chose to do this as I felt it looked better and fitted better than it did when I originally put it on the right hand side. I don’t think this would have any effect on my reader and their enjoyment whilst reading a magazine as it doesn’t have impact on the story, just on the layout.

Question 1

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