Post production feedback

In this section I've have shown my magazine pages to my fellow peers and they have commented on the strengths and weaknesses of the pages.

Below are the comments.

The strength of my front cover:

• Looks professional
• The colours used go well together
• Font chosen is good
• The background compliments the font

The weaknesses of my front cover:

• Model could be facing towards the camrera
• Could of added something on the top right as there is too much free space
• You cant really see ''Mr Calaamansi'' properly so i could have changed the colour of the font

The strength of my contents page:

• The sub headings stand out and are relevant
• Easy to read
• Pictures used all go well together
• Fonts used

The weaknesses of my contents page:

• The design looks plain
• The layout of the text
• The number of the pages seem not to be in a straight line going downwards

The strength of my double page spread

• Picture used goes with with the colours used
• Colours used all compliment each other well
• Layout
• Text is easy to read
• The line behind the model gives the magazine a unique feel

The weaknesses of my double spread:

• First page of the double page spread (could of added a bit more as it seems to have space)
• The model on the first page seems a bit to dark
• the two strips of line would be made smaller as it takes up too much space on the page

Q7. Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

When I started the preliminary task it felt like a waste off time because we were just planning our magazines and ended up making a front cover and contents but as I got further into the planning I understood how important it was for us to do the preliminary task because it helped me understand the amount of work needed in order to become successful in this piece of coursework. From the preliminary task I learnt to set out certain time and dates to do each task as it spaced out the work load and made it easier for me to cope with. I have also learnt how to use the camera effectively and how to take a professional picture.

Within the time I got I have learnt and improved many skills both technically and mentally, on the technical side I have learnt many skills which include taking professional photographs, how to set up certain shots to get the most of the photo and I’ve learnt how to analyse magazines and take in denotations the images used could mean. Although I’ve learnt many things I have also improved some skills for example Adobe Photoshop, I have a decent amount of understanding with Photoshop because of my graphics lessons, and during the preliminary task I have learnt how to further my understanding of it and create pages that look professional, I’ve learnt how to edit certain parts of images, how to make and use different effects like the gradient tool and blending options. The mental skills I have got a old of are learning how to keep a schedule and keep everything organised for example I scheduled a date in order for me to take my pictures and setting certain days I would do each part of planning, this helped me a lot into completing my magazine.

Drafting I would say is one of the most important part in the planning because you can express your ideas on a sheet of paper and if it doesn’t work out you can still post it on the blog and you will still get credit but if it works out you have yourself a magazine, so drafting is one of the most important part in the planning stage. My final design is very similar to my drafts but I decided to change some aspects as I’ve asked my peers what they think about them and I took in what was said and hopefully it pays off.

Another thing I’ve learnt from the preliminary task is that your peers are very important in this piece of coursework because without them there would be no use for planning and also without them I would not have a magazine because I would not have a model for my pages and no feedback to help me develop my magazine.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

On my path to constructing my music magazine I have learnt that using Photoshop will be the biggest part of my magazine because with this program I will create the magazine. I have learnt many skills on Photoshop for instance Cropping an image so I can take pieces of the images instead of the whole image, I have learnt how to use the gradient tool to its full potential as how in the screenshot below

Furthermore I have learnt how to install and use paintbrushes effectively this is demonstrated in the screenshot below

I have also used the marqee tool which allows me to select a certain part on an image and copy and paste in on to another canvas, I used this technique to make screenshots.

Photoshop was the main program I used to edit my pages, this program allows me to edit and construct my magazine. Photoshop makes my work look professional because it is so simple to use when you get use to the different tools even though it is simple to use it is also every effective if you use it right. Furthermore Photoshop has a unique feature the ‘layers’ which are essential in Photoshop and constructing my magazine, layers are needed for everything I add because it I do something wrong I can delete that layer and nothing else ( shown screenshot below image 1) layers are also used so I can move them about so for example if I want to image of my model in front and on top of the mash head I simply just move the layer which contains the image of my model and move it above the layer which contains the mash head ( screenshot below image 2)

image 1
image 2

The camera I have sued to take my photographs is called Canon Ixus 210 IS Black. This camera has a 14.1 Megapixel image sensor and 24mm genuine Canon lens. I have learnt how to take professional pictures from taking several pictures of my models. Angles, lighting, facial expression and gestures are all important for a image to become effective and look professional.

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

For my magazine to be attractive I have dressed my model to be dressed appropriately. I have chosen a model that is between the ages of 16-20 because that is my target audience and with me using a model within this age group my magazine would be more appealing to my target audience. Furthermore I have included clothing that will portray a retro image.

The ‘World Exclusive’ cover line I have put on my front cover will be the main thing people will look at when they first look at the magazine as it is big and bold and having the words ‘World’ and ‘Exclusive’ will make consumers more attracted to the magazine because it is exclusive and it will only be in this magazine and no other.

I also made up my own mash head which is similar to the ‘Q’ magazine’s one. The design of this mash head was influenced by ‘Q’ but I have added my own touch to it hoping to make it more appealing. I have added a star on top on the letter I in retrospective to make it look unique. I have tried to give the mash head a retro feel with the font I used. This mash head would make people remember the magazine where ever it is sold because of the design.

I have used 4 different fonts in my magazine to give the magazine a diverse feel but still be able to keep the consistently going throughout my pages.

I have used Standard English to address my audience in a formal manner because I see no need to put slang in it because it is no a hip hop magazine and it would be more easily understood with Standard English, also with the artist featured in the magazine they do not use slang so it would be appropriate to use Standard English.

Q4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience for my magazine would be teenagers around the ages of 16-20, I have chosen this age group because a 16 year old would most likely be into the latest look and music and this means that they would talk to their friends and family about the new trends of the week. So I have intended my magazine to be inspired by the retro look as people in this age group love the clothing brands of adidas and nike and I have incorporated this into the pictures I have taken and added into my magazine, for example the double page spread which has an image of ‘’Mr Calaamansi’’ he wearing ‘’retro clothing’’ meaning that he is wearing clothes that were out like in the 80s and 90s, for instance his trainers which are adidas classics which are trainers that were brought out in the past but are re-released. Another reason I have chosen this age group is because this age group has the highest amount of people using the iPod. ‘’While one in five people under the age of 30 have an iPod or other MP3 player, the number dropped to one in seven in the 30-to-39 and 40-to-48 age groups.’’ Taken from a quote from http://news.cnet.com/Whos-buying-iPods/2100-1041_3-5577396.html

The ipod and mp3 player are the most used technologies used to listen to music in this generation, so I have taken this into consideration and have included some artist that they might have on there iPods like Mr Hudson and Amy Winehouse as this might encourage them to buy the magazine as it contains stories of these artists etc. My magazine target both male and females but leans more towards the male side because my magazine contains dark colours which would be most appealing to males than females but then again all pictures in my magazine are of males this could appeal to the female gender.

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institution that I want to publish my music magazine is The Bauer Media Group as they distribute a wide range of magazine ranging from ‘Kerrang’, ‘Q’ and ‘heat’. By publishing my magazine I hope for it to sell too many teenagers as this magazine is made for them and contains unique elements on new ways they can experience stories in the music industry

I have looked into other magazine like mine but I could not find many, the reason behind this I think is because my magazine offers unique feel to any reader looking at the front cover for the first time, also my magazine contains information about up coming artists like Mr Hudson for example and J Reyez, but it also consist of artists like Amy Winehouse hence the magazine name ‘Retrospective’ she who was popular in the previous years but isn’t so now but I wanted to promote her as she was a big hit and by doing this Amy Winehouse fans may pick up the magazine boosting sales. This is why Bauer should publish my magazine because it offers a wide range of information about the past and present about music.

Bauer Media Group know everything about publishing magazines for example the magazine called Bella which was a big hit this magazine sold over 1milliom copies a week. And with this to back up the Bauer Media Group’s successful I would be stupid not to let them publish my magazine. This will increase my magazine sales as they have over 19 million consumers a week this is a vast amount of consumers all with similar interests. I would like my magazine to be distributed to newsagents and corner shops instead of companies like WHSmiths as I think my magazine would sell more to smaller audience because this would be the first issue and people would not know about my magazine so soon. If my magazine does not become successful in the bigger companies first time around i would be wasting my money publishing the same issue multiple times so instead I would like for it to be distributed to a corner shop and if sales become big I will consider distributing it to the ‘bigger companies’.

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

‘Retrospective’ is a magazine that contains music from two main genres Retro and Rap. So my magazine would target the younger age group ranging from the ages of 16 – 20 preferably teenagers.

My magazine targets certain social groups who are into to retro trend for example people who are into uniqlo clothing (retro clothing) and adidas classics and people who are interested in the ‘retro world’ meaning that they are interested in the life in the past (clothing, music, art etc). Mr Hudson fans are most likely also to read this magazine as I have put Mr Hudson’s name on the front cover and the fans will be attracted to the cover, also the line underneath the subheading ‘’Mr Hudson’s story how he began and more’’ this makes the magazine more appealing to the fans.

Mr Hudson’s fashion is similar to the ‘retro’ style for example his hairstyle which is a hairstyle that was very popular in the 80s and 90s, also his clothing express his interest in the past, he wears a shirt and tie with a cardigans which is considered as the new trend in this generation, but this trend has been taken from the fashion in the past. I have dressed my models to portray a ‘retro’ image (shown in the images below) my model in the images below is wearing a hoodie, Japanese denim jeans and addias classic trainers these are all considered to be old. My model also has glasses on even though he is not in need of them because glasses for some teenagers are fashionable so I used the glasses to try create an image of the casual teenager who is into this fashion.

This picture was used in my front cover, this model is wearing a waistcoat with a long white shirt and black denim jeans which portray an image of the everyday casual person as this fashion has become a big trend nowadays. This image I have taken goes against music magazine conventions because my model is facing backwards which I have talked about in question 1. I have used all these conventions in order to make my magazine appealing to my audience.

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My magazine uses a range of conventions from the real media. For example my Masthead which is at the top left hand corner of my front cover, this mast head I came up with was influenced by another one I saw on a magazine called Q. Q magazine’s masthead contains a capital letter ‘Q’ I have taken this approach in my masthead and changed it a bit, my version is with a capital letter but I made it the starting letter for my word ‘retrospective’, the font I used is called ‘retro party’ I chose this font because it suits the name of the magazine and this font is modern which makes it more attractive to my audience also included in my masthead is a little star which is there to make my masthead look original and unique from the other magazines that pursue the same target audience.

I have also taken another convention from the ‘Q’ magazine as you can see on the front cover. My model just like the one on the ‘Q’ magazine has their back towards the camera, although they are very simialr I have challenged the normal conventions and I intend to make my magazine very unique and my model by having his back towards the camera creates a mysterious mood about the front cover and teenagers would want to see and know whos on the front cover and they will sense the need to read the magazine in order to find out who it is.

I have a ‘Top 50 Tracks’ in my magazine which I have taken the idea from several other magazines as makes my magazine look more attractive because giving the reader an insight into the top 50 tracks will encourage them to give the magazine a look because the top 50 list will most likely contain the song they like to listen to etc.

From my questionnaire results I found out that most people from ages 16 and up are interested in techno, dance and RnB, so I created a magazine which contained several elements from these genres for example the RnB side I used a picture of my model wearing a waistcoat to give a wedding feel as RnB songs are usually about love. for the techno side I added a font on the contents page which was called 'retro party' I chose this font because it makes the page look lively because it looks like an equalizer.

The colour theme of my magazine is black white and different shades of blue I have chosen all these colours because they all compliment each other well, the theme is different through out the pages and this is similar to other magazines like 'NME' who experiment with a wide range of colour within their magazine.

Double page spread

Contents page

Front cover

Final magazine

Drafts

Case Study: Publishing House

Case Study on a Publishing House: The Bauer Media Group

In this part of my coursework I will analysis a media publishing house, I have chosen to analyse The Bauer Media Group, and the Bauer Media Group is a publishing group based in Hamburg, Germany. This company operates in 15 different countries which include England, China and the USA. The company is privately owned by the Bauer Family. Bauer started with a magazine called Bella in 1987. They introduced an unseen real life editorial, Bella made an impact in the women's market. Attention was again obtained in the 90s with the launch of Take a Break magazine. This magazine sold over 1milliom copies a week. Bauer Media reaches over nineteen million UK adults across multiple media channels. Bauer Media is a sister company of H Bauer UK, publisher of the UK's biggest TV listings. Bauer has a unique insight and understanding of its audience, they engage over 19 million consumers every week. The Bauer Media spreads over 80 brand names covering a healthy amount of interests including heat – the must have weekly celebrity title, Parker's, MATCH, CAR and Yours.

Bauer Media joined the Bauer Publishing Group in January 2008. The Bauer Publishing Group employs some 6,400 people and has a 2007 turnover of 1.79 billion Euros. Bauer Media is a multi-platform UK-based media Group consisting of many companies who specialise in magazine and radio. Bauer Media is a business that is built on many media brands like Kerrang and Q which have millions of personal relationships which engage their readers. Their strategy is to connect audiences with excellent content through broad multi-touch point brand platforms. Their wide portfolio of many brands gives them the advantages over other competitors.

The company’s radio business started in 1990 with the help of London dance station Kiss FM, followed by the acquisition of Radio City and later by TWC and the Metro Group. Then came the acquisition of Melody FM which was transformed into the market-leading Magic FM.

The company is very successful because they make huge amount of money and they also listen to their audience very well they take onboard what they say and try to publish radio shows and magazines with the feedback given and also they have over 19 million consumers a week this is a vast amount of consumers, I can see why they get 19 million consumers a month, they other a wide range of different magazines that have different purposes.

Music magazine questionnaire results

I have asked this question because I want to find out how many people actually read music magazine as this would help me make my magazine pages. From the results above I can see that people do read with only 10 out of 40 people who do not read.

Now this question I wanted to find out what type of music people are into. for this question I let people click multiple answer because most people like more then one type of music. Techno, RnB and Hip Hop came out on top and so I will base my magazine on one of these genres or maybe have my magazine contain news on two genres.

Here is a similar question to the one above but this one is asking what music they like to listen to. This will also help me out with the development of my music magazine. Techno, Dance and RnB came out on top. Techno and RnB came out top of both these question so I will take that into consideration and probably base my magazine on one of these genres.

This questions aim is to find out what my fellow peers like to see in a magazine ranging from either images, text or colour. From the results I can see people like to see the text, this is probably because many people buy a magazine to read but image came in second so I think images are still important but the text is the most important.

Here is the results to the question 'What kind of magazine/s do you like to read?'. The ones that came out on top are Music, Gossip and Celebrity because these came out on top I will add some of the up coming artists in the music industry as it gives fans something to look forward to and nearly every magazine contains gossip in it so I will consider adding that to my magazine.

What attracts people to a magazine is the text this question relates to the question before where I asked 'What do you prefer in a magazine'' Text has over half the results and this tells me that text is very important and in order for my magazine to be successful among my audience i will need to add creative text and text that is easy to read.

Most people spend around £0-£3 on magazines with a few who are willing to pay £4-£6. This tells me a lot, I would have to sell my magazine at a price between £0-£6 in order for it to become sell able as most teenagers want to spend their magazines on other stuff like clothes and going out.

This question asks how long people read in a week. I found out most people read between 0-1 hours a week this doesn't seem so good for my magazine in development but it will help me improve it, I will have to make my text easy to read and make it appealing to my target audience.

Here I have asked people if they buy magazines, and the results are that 20 people said yes, 5 people said no and 15 people said sometimes. from these results it tells me that people will be willing to buy my magazine and they will properly give it a read or even a look.

Music magazine questionnaire

MUSIC MAGAZINE QUESTIONAIRE

Name: Age: Male Female

Do you read magazines?

Yes No Sometimes

Do you buy magazines?

Yes No Sometimes

How long do you read for in a week?

0-1hour 2-3hours 4-5hours

How much do you spent on magazines in a week?

£0-£3 £4-£6 £7-£10

What attracts you to a magazine?

Images Colours Text

What kind of magazine/s do you like to read?

Music Gossip Children’s Celebrity

Fashion College News Car

What do you prefer in a magazine?

Images Text Colour

What kinds of music to you listen to?

Techno RnB Rock

Hip Hop Trance Dance

What kind of music genre do you like to read about?

Techno RnB Rock

Hip Hop Trance Dance

Textual Analysis of a double page spread

Double page spread textual analysis

I am going to do a textual analysis on this double page spread from the magazine Kerrang. The reason I have chosen this double page spread is because I intend to make my double page spread similar to this one and also I am thinking of making my magazine based on the rock genre.

The main cover line ‘’ WE’RE BEING THE BEST MCR WE CAN BE!’’ stands out on both pages, it is bold which makes it stand out from the rest of the text on the pages, also this attracts the reader because it shows the bands determination and commitment towards music. The ‘World exclusive’ at the top left side of the first page makes this page unique it’s a world exclusive. Kerrang have been invited to the MCR recording studio which it mentions in one of the cover lines on the right side of the double page spread. This makes die hard fans of MCR want to read on and find out more about there visit etc.

The text of the right with the white background gives the reader and heads up on the new tracks MCR have produced. This section allows the reader to read what the upcoming tracks will sound like, the track is described in text.

The left side is dominated by two individual one of them I believe is the lead singer of My Chemical Romance, he and the other band member are wearing clothing that may come across as trendy to people who are interested in their music (tight jeans and denim jacket) also their hairstyles may also be considered fashionable and ‘rocky’.

The images on the right side connotes that the band is very hard working as one of the images show the lead singer practising vocally on the microphone, also it seems that he is signing his heart out. The other image shows the group having a discussion and this could denote that they are discussion a new song maybe or they might be planning for a tour which could support the main cover line ‘WE’RE BEING THE BEST MCR WE CAN BE’. All the images on both pages compliment each other because they are all in black and white which makes the pages consistent. The colour theme of the double page spread is black, white and red all these colours go well together resulting in a more interesting page for the reader.