Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Magazines follow a set of conventions that will make them more successful but also look like a magazine. The typical conventions for a magazine consist of a Master-head, main image, cover-lines and a house style. I chose to follow the main conventions of a magazine as I want it to be recognisable for my audience every time there is a new issue however unlike most magazines I wanted my front cover to be more minimalistic as I believe this looks more professional compared to a cluttered cover.Master-head:
I had two options for the name of my magazine. I first looked at the adjective 'Vivid'.
The connotations of this adjective are "striking bright and intense" or "full of life" this links with my magazine as I wanted it to be very bright and vibrant unlike most Indie magazines. However, I found that this master-head didn't fit across the top of the cover and I also found problems with the rainbow background.
My other option for the name of my magazine was the noun 'Narcotic'.
I preferred this brand name as my target audience said it linked more towards indie music but also was a very unique name. The definition of Narcotic is "an addictive drug affecting mood or behaviour". I linked this more towards music and how music you enjoy is very addictive and can change your mood. Also I said how magazines you enjoy are addictive and you want to buy every issue. Finally, Narcotic has connotations of drugs and most Indie songs relate to drugs or talk about drugs in the songs.
My master-head is located at the top of my cover; this allows the magazine to be noticeable for the audience at every issue.I placed the master-head behind the models head as this technique is used in most conventional magazines. I used white for the colour of the master-head as it stands out as the background of the cover which is more of a duck egg blue. At every issue I will change the colour of the master-head so that it fits with the theme of that specific issue. I decided to use Arial Black font for my master-head of my magazine as this font is used in a variety of Indie music magazines for example 'Wonderland' magazine also it looks very professional and bold so will stand out on the news-stand. This font will be used in every issue so that the magazine is recognisable for my target audience.
Cover image:
The cover image is very important for the success of a magazine as it is what the audience first looks at when they see the magazine. The image needs to catch the readers attention to make them want to purchase the magazine.
Un-edited image:
I took several images for the front cover image; I started with taking my images outside however I struggled with the lighting so decided to take a image with the green-screen as this allowed me to get the lighting I wanted for my image and the colour of the background. Here I followed the conventions of typical magazines as most images have used a green screen then edited.
Another convention I have followed is the models giving direct eye contact to the camera. This creates a bond with the models and reader making them more likely to purchase the magazine.
Edited image:
When editing my image I mainly wanted to focus on adjusting the lighting as most magazines have a very soft lighting on the models faces. Typical magazine cover images are very striking to make my image striking to the audience I focused on the clothing and positioning of the models. The clothes the models are wearing have a very similar colour scheme which makes the clothes work well together but are very striking pieces so will attract the eye of the reader. With the positioning I researched into other magazines with a trio on the front cover and how they were positioned. I took inspiration from Nylon magazine which had the band 'Haim' on the front cover. As you can see they are placed very close together which I liked the look of so my models are positioned very closely also I liked how one member of the band are at more of a side angle than the others which I tried to do in my photo-shoot for my front cover image.
Colour scheme:
I decided to keep to a colour scheme of neutral colours throughout my magazine so that I have a house style and that the format of my magazine is consistent throughout as this makes the magazine look more professional but also follow the typical conventions of a magazine where there is a specific colour scheme and style throughout a certain issue. At first I was going to use more vibrant colours as I found this is what my target audience preferred however I felt that more neutral colours fitted in more with the Indie style I wanted in addition I found that magazines like 'Indie' were using more neutral tones rather than bright bold colours.
As you can see the tones are very similar and I stuck to the three colours Black, White and Blue throughout my magazine as again this creates a house-style but also typically magazines stick to three colours throughout a magazine.
Cover-lines:
Cover-lines are very important for the cover of a magazine as it informs the audience the formula and function of the magazine. I decided to have a minimalistic front cover as this is what my target audience preferred in my questionnaire. In addition because of my audience preferring a minimalistic style I decided to challenge conventions of magazines and use less cover-lines on my front cover.I decided to follow a similar layout of cover-lines as 'Wonderland' magazine as I felt this most suited my front cover as it allows the audience attention to go towards the image rather than the cover-lines.
Conclusion:
Overall I feel that my magazine has been successful. I have followed conventions of a striking image, Master-head and a consistent colour scheme. This will allow me to attract my target audience as I have l have looked at what they would like to see in a magazine through my questionnaire throughout the production of my magazine. By challenging conventions of only using a small amount of cover-lines because of my target audience preferring a minimalistic style this has meant that my magazine targets more of a niche audience.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Here is the link to my prezi:
How did you attract/address your audience?
Audience response:
Front cover:
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Click on the following link to my Prezi:https://prezi.com/6d1ncqrlgtyf/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-who-would-be-the-audience-for-your-media-product-evaluatio/
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your product?
Throughout the production of my magazine I used a variety of technologies to construct my magazine.
When I took my photograph's I used a Canon camera and a iPhone 5S camera. The Canon camera produced higher quality images and I used most of the images on my final product as they looked better quality and more professional. The only problem I found was getting used to the camera as I haven't used a Canon before so it took a while for me to get used to it. I used a iPhone 5s camera for my front cover as the canon wasn't available however the quality of the images was still high.
When editing my images I used a variety of editing websites including Pixlr, Befunky and Picmonkey. I used the website Pixlr mainly for the editing of my front cover as I had to remove the green screen in my image.
As you can see in the first image the background is a green back drop so to remove this I went onto the Pixlr web app where I then used the eraser tool to remove the background behind my models.I then filled the background with a muted blue as this is my colour scheme for my magazine. A disadvantages of using Pixlr for removing the green screen in pictures is that it is a long process and the final result isn't as high quality as using Photoshop however it is much easier to use and not complicated to understand. I also used Pixlr to place my master-head behind my models heads, I decided to do this because this is done in most professional magazines e.g Nylon. To do this I first of all started with my image then I place the text in front of the models I then added a layer of the same image on top of the first image and text. After this I then used the eraser tool so that the parts of the master-head could been seen. The advantages of this is that the finished results looks very professional however a disadvantage is that it takes a while to get grabs with the layering tool.
In the production of my magazine I also used Befunky to touch up darker areas on my models faces also adjust the lighting as I felt the lighting on the models faces was too strong in my first image. The advantages of Befunky is that it is very easy to use and the layout of the website is very simplistic so easy to understand however a disadvantage is that there wasn't any complicated editing tools and the tools on the website are very basic.
The final editing app I used in the production of my magazine was PicMonkey I used this for the cover-lines on the front cover and the layout of my double page spread. I used this website for the making of my double-page spread as it allowed me to create the layout I wanted for my double page spread.The advantages of Picmonkey is that it is very easy to use and it doesn't take long for you to get to grips with it however because of it being free most of the editing tools are very basic.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The definition of a media institution is a company that owns numerous companies in various mass media; i.e. television, radio, motion picture and the internet. There is two types of publishers; there are Mass Institutions then Independent publishers. Independent publishers are one company that produce a small amount of magazines with normally a niche audience. Mass Institutions is a publisher that owns other large companies and produces mass media for example Bauer media which is a multi-platform UK based group and manage more than 600 magazines, 400 digital products and 50 radio/TV stations around the world. In addition they produce well known brands such as Mojo, Heat and Q. However, my magazine is more aimed for a niche audience so I would want a Independent publisher producing my magazine. An Independent publisher that might distribute my magazine would be Volcano Publishings. Volcano publishings publish magazine like 'Shindig' as it has a very niche audience much like my magazine however I would think my magazine would attract more readers than shindig as this magazines audience is much more specific than mine.By looking at the National Readership Survey there is a massive difference of how many men read music magazines compared to women which is why I think there is room for my magazine in the market as my music magazine is mainly aimed at young women. I think my magazine will be popular as most magazine that are aimed for women are gossip magazines and the only music magazine that attracts for females than males is 'Top of the Pops' which however is more targeted at the much younger generation.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
My preliminary task was to produce a front cover and contents page for my school's magazine. My target audience for that task was year 12 and 13; the ages in 6th form range from 16-18 which was also the target age for my music magazine. There is a massive difference in camera-work and editing in my final magazine compared to my preliminary task.
My front cover of my preliminary task was taken outside behind a wall and greenery however before this image I was going to use a image where my model is in front of a green screen much like my final music magazine. However, I decided not to use the image with the green screen as it was taking a long time to edit but also I didn't use a green mat so meant I had to crop my models legs which didn't look good. Although that made me learn for next time I used the green screen in my front cover of my final product; I decided to only feature the top half of their bodies so that I wouldn't have a problem editing out the green-screen around their legs. In my preliminary task I placed my model further away from the camera so that the image featured alot of the background I think this looks good however less professional so when taking my front cover images I made sure my models were the focal point on the page.Finally while making my preliminary task I hadn't done alot of research into magazines however afterwards I looked further into the production and conventions of magazines which allowed me while producing my final front cover I knew what I needed to include and how it should look so that my magazine looked professional for example the master-head being behind the models heads as I had seen this being done in well known magazines like Nylon.
Overall my front cover in my final product is very different to my preliminary task as I have gone for a more minimalistic and professional style as I preferred this to the cluttered style in my preliminary front cover as I used more cover-lines which in my opinion I don't like on the front of a magazine.
As you can see there is alot of develop from my preliminary contents page compared to my final contents page. While making my contents page for my preliminary task I found it difficult with the layout as I hadn't done alot of research into how contents pages are laid out in magazines. Even though the contents is very basic I still created a house-style by using the background I used in my front cover. When making my final product I kept in my a house style however this time keeping to the same colour scheme throughout as most conventional magazines use a house style throughout an issue. However, one thing I did take from my preliminary contents page is highlighting the text as it made it stand out however in my final contents page I used black to highlight over the white text as it made it stand out more against the light blue background.
From this process I have learnt how to produce a professional looking magazine. By starting with a preliminary task it allowed me to learn about different technologies and styles which I then was able to take forward to my final product also it allowed me to learn from my mistakes for example not using a green mat on the floor while using a green screen and using the right layout that looks the most professional. In addition my camera skills and editing skills have progressed through this process because before the preliminary task I didn't know how to work a Canon camera. Finally, I learnt how much detail goes into making a magazine that is appealing for your target audience.
Overall my front cover in my final product is very different to my preliminary task as I have gone for a more minimalistic and professional style as I preferred this to the cluttered style in my preliminary front cover as I used more cover-lines which in my opinion I don't like on the front of a magazine.
As you can see there is alot of develop from my preliminary contents page compared to my final contents page. While making my contents page for my preliminary task I found it difficult with the layout as I hadn't done alot of research into how contents pages are laid out in magazines. Even though the contents is very basic I still created a house-style by using the background I used in my front cover. When making my final product I kept in my a house style however this time keeping to the same colour scheme throughout as most conventional magazines use a house style throughout an issue. However, one thing I did take from my preliminary contents page is highlighting the text as it made it stand out however in my final contents page I used black to highlight over the white text as it made it stand out more against the light blue background.
From this process I have learnt how to produce a professional looking magazine. By starting with a preliminary task it allowed me to learn about different technologies and styles which I then was able to take forward to my final product also it allowed me to learn from my mistakes for example not using a green mat on the floor while using a green screen and using the right layout that looks the most professional. In addition my camera skills and editing skills have progressed through this process because before the preliminary task I didn't know how to work a Canon camera. Finally, I learnt how much detail goes into making a magazine that is appealing for your target audience.
