Contents page for resubmission:

Pictures I didn't use:

Evaluation:

For my Media studies task I created a music magazine that consists of a front page, contents and a double page spread.  I included original images for my magazine taken using a digital camera and edited on the programme Photoshop.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I believe that my complete piece follows the conventions of most music magazines; using things such as a house style that represents the music genre I’m trying to represent and the type of audience I am trying to appeal to, keeping the colours consistent throughout the media text. As with most magazines, a medium shot of the artist featured in the magazine or being interviewed is usually used as the background of the front cover, with cover lines and perhaps pictures with captions down the sides. I chose to use this design when constructing the layout of my front page as I like the idea of having the artist as the main focus point, showing who and what is in the magazine without having to look at the contents page. I also chose not to include other pictures on the cover as I believed it looked quite untidy and distracted attention away from the main artist.
Additionally, I included a masthead which was the name of my institution (NBM Magazine) that I created on a text generating website and then edited it on Photoshop to make sure it looked professional.
The contents page that I created follows the house style that I chose, using the colours red, black and white to try and portray the not so girly side of pop music. I chose these colour when first planning my product as they are not usually associated with the pop/r’n’b genre which challenge the conventions of real music magazines. I used another original image of my artist on the contents which was bigger than the rest and also a close up which again shows the importance of that particular person, and I also included the names of more conventional, well known artists (Katy Perry) when describing the content of my magazine which would attract those that are interested in those artists which would therefore promote my magazine.  In my opinion the first contents page that I produced did not follow the house style and therefore did not fit within my piece and the images that I had taken did not promote the artist in the best way possible.
The double page spread was then constructed using both Photoshop and Publisher, putting the interview between the magazine and the artist into columns which is again a convention of other media texts. This makes the text easier to read and also looks much neater and again, more professional. I created the headline using a pull quote from the article I had written to show the reader what the article was about and to attract attention. I used a large font and the same house colours showing without saying that this interview was conducted by my particular institution which is similar to most magazines as they use colours as an identifier. In the layout of this piece I also included close up and medium shots of the artist, depicting who the interview was about.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I chose IPC media as a distributor of my product as I believe they are quite successful and provide texts for different audiences. As there is a current gap in the market for Pop magazines that appeal to audiences between the ages of 15-24 I believe that the pairing would be well suited as they are used to catering for more niche audiences such as the institution ‘NME’.

Who would be the audience for you media product and why?

I would like to believe that my music magazine doesn’t exclude any social groups and appeals to all types of people, which I tried to achieve by using quite androgynous colours such as red and black and appealing to those who may not have the most money by reducing the cost of my magazine to make it more affordable.  I believe that my most likely audience would be 15-24 year olds as they are more likely to care about the current artist and the current trends, and are more likely to attend gigs and concerts as they have more disposable income and time. I also specifically chose a younger artist dressed in quite fashionable clothes, which the audience is more likely to identify with if they are in my target age bracket. I do not think it would attract an educated readership or the older generation as it doesn’t include any current events or world affairs etc.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I believe I have gained more skills when using Photoshop as the pieces that I constructed are much more like the conventional music magazine layout I was aiming for. In my first product what I created looked messy and disjointed, like it didn’t belong to one magazine but using a digital camera I was able to take much clearer pictures with different angles and edit them in a way that followed my house style.
Using the magnetic tool I was able to shape images the way I wanted to so that they fitted in with my layout. I also used the crop tool to change the size of bigger pictures so that they were the same as others and changed the effects such as sepia and black and white, which added a more professional hint to my product.  I also applied these changes to my masthead which was much smaller when I created it, and it needed to be the biggest thing on the page apart from the picture itself in order for it be eye catching.  Compared to the double page spread I created before resubmission, using the colour effects I was able to follow the house style and therefore improve the end result.  Publisher also helped me to place the text into columns which I didn’t do before which resulting in my previous work looking more like a draft than a music magazine.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt from it to the full product?I have learned how to imitate the conventions of music magazines but also how to input my own personal style into my product. Beforehand I think I underestimated the amount of work that needed to go into making a semi-successful music magazine and looking back on my previous work you can tell how unprofessional and untidy it is. I learnt that using Photoshop and Publisher together creates in my eyes a reasonable music magazine and that the application of effects can change the way the audience views your institution.
I have also developed my skills when experimenting with different camera angles and shots which has benefited my end product.

Resubmission of my double page spread:

resubmission of my front page:

Examples of text that I plan to use for my magazine headline.

Using the website http://interactimage.com/ I created these two similar pieces of text that I plan to use on the front cover of my music magazine as the headline. I like the fact that the style of text is bold and therefore noticeable, but I prefer the one in black as it is even more eye catching and will stand out from the background. Also, if I used the text in black it would follow my specific colour scheme, which is a convention of most music magazines that keep to the same theme throughout.
I got inspiration from the NME cover of Florence and the machine but wanted to make the text a little different. I liked the fact that the artist's name was in bold which would attract people into reading the magazine.

Options for my music magazine logo.

I like this choice as it follows with the font throughout my magazine, but I don't think it stands out or is eye catching enough for a front cover.

This text is bolder and is written in a comic font which adds a fun aspect to my magazine but also follows the usual media magazine conventions of having a bold title, usually an abbreviation of the magazine name.

This is different and eye catching and also big, which most magazines conventionally follow. 

I like this masthead as it's different; not in black but in white. it's also bold ebough and easily recognisable.. but will it look stupid on my background?