CAROLINE.......

FINISHED!

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
To start with, i needed to research an array of different music magazines.  By looking at a wide range (different genre's, target audiences, ect.) i could see the similarities and most important of all, differences in the development, layout, colour schemes and so on.  Several magazines inspired me with good designs, Q for example and it's excellent colour scheme of Red, black, grey and white.  After looking through the magazines i had to decide on my genre.  I went for Big band/pop because it is very popular and it is relatively uncovered in music magazines. But i did decide later on that i would also include Indie and regular pop to my list of genre's as it gives the people reading the magazine more choice and is generally a safe option.  Most of the music magazines that i researched featured a regular interview of an artist.  This, in most cases, came in the form of a DPS.  I figured they did this because it looks proffesional, looks more and includes big, glossy pictures of the artist.  i figured that a good DPS interview was essential as it was the highlight of the magazine to a lot of young buyers of the magazine.  The DPS usually followed a colour scheme which was carried on throughout the magazine.  I decided not to in my magazine DPS i liked the DPS to be about the artist and the layout, colours and so on to resemble the person of whom the article was based on.  Also, although a colour scheme can look proffessional, it can be a bit repetitive at times, which is were my magazine challenges others. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As mentioned in my treatment sheet, i will be iming the magazine at "the young generation", ages 16-25.  I feel that my magazine can be enjoyed by a much wider range but my main target audience is late-teens.  I used a refreshing colour scheme (as the title suggests a refreshing read!) of Blue, green and silver.  The main word was "fresh" and so i wanted an uncluttered and simple front cover and to let the colour scheme and picture attract the readers eye instead of the words.  However, this magazine is not for what some people would call "the stereotypical teenager".  This is a genre of music growing in popularity amongst young people and as no other current music magazine specialises in it, there is a massive gap in the market.  I have kept text to a minimum because typical teenagers prefer images rather than acres of dull text.  The right images can also give out a lot of information.  Any text is eyecatching, informative and kept to a minimum.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I have aimed my music magazine at people of both genders in their late-teens.  I have done so because both male and female tennagers are starting to grow an interest in the genre covered in my magazine.  The magazine and articles are not biased to a single gender and regularly feature both male and female bands/artists.  The design is also not based on what one gender would prefer, for example, pink colour scheme for the girls.  By taking this all on board i hope that i have created a magazine that is for both genders to read and enjoy!

How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience was people in their late-teens and so i used pictures to attract them to the front cover.  I felt that a good colour scheme was essential and i feel that is were my magazine is strong.  It is professional looking and that encourages the reader to carry on through the rest of the magazine.  Addressing a teen is a challenge but i decided the best way was not to cram the page with information, use plenty of colour and pictures, and keep text to a minimum.  Also, the names of the featured artists in big, attractive fonts attracted tem to viewing my magazine.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As i mentioned before, students and people in their-late teens are who the magazine is aimed at but it can be enjoyed by anybody of any age.  The magazine is affordable as it comes out once a month andis packed full of lot's of music related articles ect.  the reason why i say it is full all ages (14 + really) is because it features serious articles and reviews as well as music and funny, light-hearted stuff. 

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

The likely institutes are colleges, universities and maybe shops like HMV or Zavvi as they, like my magazine, target the same teenage audience.  Also, around a college word will spread quickly about the quality of the magazine and students are more likely to give feedback on how we could improve the magazine.  they would distribute my magazine for many reasons.  One of the main being that mine covers different genre's than the usual mag but also because they are more likely to distribute it than shops as shop's have a reputation to keep, they have plenty of other magazines and they will probably be more difficult to impress and will want more copies than a college or university.  Also, colleges want to give new mags a chance and once the mag is well known then students could help create it.  Maybe for free so it can go on their CV, or as a task for the media/graphics students.

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

I used GIMP 2.6 for a lot of my work on designing the magazine.  I used it for my preliminary task aswell but i used things new to me this time such as editing the colour and cropping the pictures.  The result of this technology was that i was able to manipulate my images into more proffessional and desired images which then made the magazine look more proffessional.  As before i used Publisher for my actual designs and drafts of covers, contents and DPS's.  I learnt two new tricks which improved my magazine and those were the transparancy tool and the image order tool.  I used a 12 mega pixel camera in this progect, considerably more than the last time.  This meant that the quality of the images was higher.  Overall, this time around i felt much more confident about using the technology and needed little assisstance. 

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

Looking back i think that the main thing that has changed is my confidence to use more advanced technology.  I feel that this has been shown in the quality of my work and compared to last time there is a noticable difference.  Programs like GIMP 2.6 and Publisher have become much easier for me to use thanks to the practice of the preliminary tasks.  Furthermore, i have learnt about identifying my target audience and creating the magazine to THEIR design.  I have also learnt that if you don't stick to a plan, the work piles up- fast!

FINAL CONTENTS PAGE!!!

This is my finished contents page.  A little different than what i first planned but came out better than what i was expecting.

Definetly the FINAL COVER!!!

After many drafts i have selected this particular masterpiece as my FINAL FRONT COVER!!!!!!!!

Yet another draft...

Bit random but definetly fun and vibrant!

FINAL DPS

 This is my FINAL and completed Doublr-page spread.  Let me know what you think...

These are a select few of the photo's from my photoshoot.  As you can see the top one has been edited on Gimp 2.6.

Audience Questionairre

      1.How much would you pay for a quality music magazine?

• £0-1
• £1-2
• £2-3
• £3-4
• £4+

     2.What genre of music would you like featured?

• Metal
• Rock/Indie
• Pop
• R'n'B
• Drum & Bass
• Classical
• Big band/pop/jazz/swing
• Country
• Techno
• Rap
• Electric

     3. How often would you like the magazine to come out?

• Weekly
• Monthly
• Seasonally
• Annually

     4. Although most of the magazine will remain music orientated, which of the following would you also like to read about?

• Fashion
• Global events
• Other arts (drama, dance)
• Reviews (film, music, games, theatre)
• Other
• Solely about music

     5. Are you;

• Male
• Female

     6. Which age category do you fit into?

•  0-9
• 10-13
• 14-18
• 19-23
• 24-30
• 30-40
• 40-50
• 50+

Thanks for your time

Readership figures

Music magazine: year on year comparison into numbers sold - Results from Mediatel.co.uk
  
Title                        Publisher                        Jan- June 08   Jan- June 09   Change   %Ch

Classic Rock          Future Publishing            66,632           70,301            3,669      5.5
Kerrang                 Bauer Consumer Media  60,290           43,253           -17,037   -28.3
Metal Hammer       Future Publishing            48,540           46,004           -2,536      -5.2
Mojo                     Bauer Consumer Media  106,367         97,772           -8,645      -8.1
NME                     IPC Ignite                       56,284           40,948           -15,336    -27.2
Q                           Bauer Consumer Media   113,174         100,172         -13,002   -11.5
The Fly                  Channelfly Enterprises Ltd.  105,212         107,771      2,559       2.4
Uncut                     IPC Ignite                        86,925           76,526          -10,399    -12.0

Results clearly show that these well-known music magazines are declining in sales.  I think that this is down to the lack of genre coverage.  I feel that there is a gap in the market for my magazine as it is a fresh take on music and focuses on new bands/artists and big band/pop, indie, swing, jazz music.

Textual analysis of contents cover

Q magazine contents page -
The first thing that grabs your attention on the contents page of Q magazine is the picture of one of the many featured bands, The Courteeners.  The picture is bright and clearly shows the four band members which is good as readers may not recognise the band name, but individual members in the photo which will increase interest in the artricle and magazine.  The next thing that caught my eye is the clear title "Contents" in a bold and attractive font.  The title is white against a black background which not only looks good, but stands out above the rest of the text on the page.  This is clear and leads the reader onto reading the contents and therefore to grow his/her interest in the magazine. 
The layout of the contents page is clear, un-cluttered and organised into easy to read and simple blocks of information.  Together with the attractive colour scheme, this is a splendid contents page.  There are several sections such as "Every month", "Review" and "Features".  Having the contents in several sections is a nice change from the usual predictable contents layout and keeps the readers interest.  There are only two pictures on the contents, both being of featured artists.  These particular photos are nice and bright and do not reveal much about the genre of music to expect (unlike over magazines, for example, kerrang). 
The font sizes are reasonable and controlled.  There are many different sizes for example, "contents" and "features" are big and attention grabbing whilst the majority of the text below is small as it is less important.  
There is an excellent use of colour on this contents cover and it is kept throughout the magazine in all issues.  The colour scheme of grey, red, black & white gives the magazine a glossy and profesional look.  This will undoubtably attract the reader.  Again, the colour scheme does not give away the genre of music covered in the magazine but maybe they have done that to signify that they cover all sorts of genres of music, not just specialise in one. 
Overall, as a reader this looks like a beautifully layed out contents page for all ages with a wonderfully attractive colour scheme and very informative, without looking boring as the information is in blocks of small and easily digestiable information.  The trademark "Q" gives the final professional touch.










The first thing that strikes me when i look at the contents page is the cluttered and messy look of it.  This reflects on the genre of music the magazine is based on, rock/punk as it is messy and un-organised, just like the people who will be reading the magazine - teenagers.  However, with so much on the contents page it the reader will think that they are getting value for money as teens will probably be more concerned about quantity rather than quality.  The contents page has little text and the text it does have is short and informative as so as to not "bore" or "overload" the reader.  The page numbers and text is kept to the side because the pictures are the main source of information on this contents page, a page number and picture is all that is needed for the teenage audience!  One critisism i do have is over the size of the font.  Looking at the contents i feel that the words and names of featured artists and bands need to almost jump off the page and look vibrant, energetic ect.  This, i feel, would work as it would fit in well with the rock & roll/punk music featured in the rest of the mag.
There isn't a particular colour scheme on the page but the use of many give it a very vibrant and energised look.  This will appeal to teenagers as it relates to the typical teenage lifestyle. 
The various pictures stand out as they have an energised look, the colours are different and vibrant and they show all of the different artists featured inside.  I feel that they have done particularly well here as the typical teenager tends to "scan" the page rather than read and pictures are a much better way of informing them of what to expect inside, too much text will put them off reading it and the rest of the magazine, as they have short attention spans or in other words "can't be bothered".  The vibrancy of the page is good as well as a dull contents will put them off reading the contents.  The pictures keep in code with the genre of the magazine as they look like punk/rock artists.  
Overall, this looks like a hectic, teenage-styled and energetic contents packed full to the brim with information and youth!  The lack of control about it all adds to the punk/rebellion feel and the lack of control in the colours department does too. 
 

Textual analysis of a DPS

First of all, the picture is very attention grabbing as it takes up a whole page.  Being in sepia tone you it makes the picture look like one of the past, which it is as it is of a 70's rock band but it also gives it a dark, punk edge to the picture and even livens it up a bit.  The pose and facial expression of the person in the picture gives a rock/punk quality to the DPS aswell and as it takes up the whole page it makes the photo more menacing and brash. 
The background of the text is plain white which although does look slightly dull at times it keeps to the black & white colour scheme making the magazine look, not only more proffesional, but more rock/punk orientated.  Having a white background is also good for another reason as it makes the black text stand out more. 
Apart from the picture, the next thing that caught my eye was the title "GENERATION X".  I feel that it stood out for many reasons, the obvious being the size and boldness.  Also the colour black works well as it is usually associated with rock/punk/rebellion and it keeps in code with the simple, yet effective, colour scheme.  One critisism though would be that the size of the title is not big enough.
In my opinion, the layout is very good.  It is well spread out, not cluttered, and although it looks to be lacking in much information, they have actually provided a lot rather cleverly by using quotes and generally splitting information into easily digestiable sections around the page.  They have also included a few seperate pictures around the page which adds colour and information without the use of words.  The pictures are also good because people want to see the artist, not just read about them.
The text itself comes in different fonts, styles and sizes.  One example would be the title, which is "rock & roll" styled, keeping in touch with the music genre, it stands out above the other text as to clearly state the name of the artist(s).  However, the article itself is a much smaller font as there is more to fit in.  The style is also more neutral and normal, making it easier to read.  Other bits of text to the sides of the main article are in slightly different styles as to keep the readers interest and maybe show that that piece of text is of a different tone. 

Audience feedback

The people have voted on the polls and the results show that the majority of people would like the music magazine to centre around the genre- big band/pop.  They would also like Melon music magazine to be a monthly edition. 

Front cover draft 2

Front cover draft 1