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

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

QuarkXPress

For the whole of my magazine I used QuarkXPress to put it all together. For my contents page I was able to use lots of different tools to make my magazine seem more realistic, like being able to write sideways across the page. Also being able to write in columns made my double page spread a lot more realistic and made it look more professional. It took me a while to understand how all of QuarkXPress worked, as I found it quite confusing to start with, fortunately I quickly learnt how to add images and make my magazine come to life. Apart from the difficulty to start with I found QuarkXPress quite useful throughout the process of making my magazine.

Websites

Websites such as Facebook and Slideshare, were also very useful when doing my magazine. I used Facebook to be able to get my targeted audiences opinions and views on my magazine, by simply posting a couple of posts and my moodboard I was able to make sure what I was doing for my magazine is what my audience would be interested in and what they would like to see and buy. I used SlideShare towards the end of my project for my evaluation. After making a couple of powerpoints for my evaluation by putting them on slideshare I was easily able to embed them into my blog simply and quickly, this was very useful and a good website that I will be able to use in future presentations.

Blogger

I used Blogger.com as a way of keeping track everything that I had done throughout the project. By doing this it was easier for me to see what I had already done and it was easy to change if I had done something wrong. I believe it helped me present my work easily and clearly and it is a very useful website when it comes to doing projects like this one. An example of when it was useful was when I was starting my evaluation and needed to remind myself of distribution, as it was on my blog from when I previously researched it, it was easy to remind myself.

Picnik

When I took my pictures I used a Digital SLR camera, I am familiar with these cameras as I have one myself and photography is a hobby of mine. To edit my pictures I used a website called Picnik I used this website as I believe it is one of the best easy ways to edit pictures and I believe that this makes my pictures look a lot more effective. All of my pictures have been edited with this website.

I found that all of the new technologies that I have been using throughout this project have all been very relevant and very useful. I think that QuarkXPress was one of the most confusing desktop publishers that I have used, but after you got used to it, it was reasonably easy to understand and use. However, I would have preferred to have used something like photoshop to make my whole magazine, as I am much more confident with this programme.

4+5) Who would be the audience for your media product? & How did you attract/address your audience?

When doing my detailed research into forms and conventions I decided that I wanted my audience to be Mainstream, Explorers, Jicnar scale : C1/B. First of all I put my finished magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread on facebook to see what my target audience thought of the way it looked, here are some of the comments that I got:

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The photos are great - lots of impact, and great colour. I also really like the font you've chosen for the headers, and how you've used the space to draw the eye to the interviewee.

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I do love these two pages, work really well together, I love the simplicity of the white background and the size of the photos are really good for the layout of the page. The colours I like better with the white background in this one :) larvee it! Xx

- Its good, the layout is great and its not too daunting to look at which is good :) The different colours are useful for people like me who get lost easily.

- Love the layout i cant see wot i says on the computer but im guessing the questions are green and answers pink right? if so thats gud as its rather informal which is approiate for ur mag but also visually looks gud and bold. well done chick. the s[read doent look over crowed which can be easily done so one gain well done. love the enlarged quote aswell xxxx

I believe that from the comments I have received, that quite a lot of my audience like my pages, however I want to know what attracts them to the magazine and whether or not they would buy it. To find this out, it would have been ideal to have been able to record a few people to find out what they actually like about it and then put it on my blog, unfortunately because of the time limit I haven't been able to get around to doing this. Instead, I have created a new post on facebook and I have asked people if they could answer the following questions about my magazine :

1 - What do you like about it?

2 - Would you buy this magazine?

3 - What type of person do you think would read it?

4 - What could be improved on?

Here are my responses :

1) well i like the model ;) haha. nahh i like the colour scheme as it rly works well with the picture colours. i also like how the little pictures are in the circle shape as its different. the title across the cover works really well as well. :)

2) yeppp

3) i think this magazine is aimed at young people around the ages 16-20 years interested in different types of music.

4) i think the title could be bigger and stand out more at the top and the hollywood thingy could stretch across the whole pagee but apart from that its reeeli good :D

_______

1. Looks really professional. I like how the colours of the background ties in with the text. The reversed out coverline across the main sell really stands out and catches your attention to the main story.

2. Yes

3. I think this magazine is aimed at sophisticated young people who are interested in all genres of music.

4. Hmmmmm I think the title could do with a shadow or something to make it more prominent.

_______

1. I think it looks really professional, and like a real magazine. I like the colour scheme also, feels very warm and wintery.

2. Yep

3. I think its for people who like lots of different music

4. More detail about the types of music in the magazine.

_____

As I have successfully been able to get my target audience to reply and tell me what they think is good about my magazine I have found out that my colour scheme attracts my audience, as does the main sell and the strap lines included in my project. My doing this I was able to fully understand what my audience is attracted to about my magazine, in this case it was mainly the main sell and the layout and colour scheme. I also found out that all of the people I got responses from would buy my magazine, which means I have been able to create a magazine aimed at a target audience, where the target audience would want to buy the magazine. I also asked my audience what they thought would need improving, most of them agreed that the title could stand out more as this would attract them to the magazine more. By taking negatives along with the positives means I can always improve my work in all of my different future projects.

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

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By deciding to be distributed by a major company this way my magazine would be easily reached by my niche targeted audience who are mainstreamers who enjoy all sorts of music, I have explained this in more detail in my presentation above.

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

Question 1

I have included a slideshow to clearly show my points, I will indicate a number in my answer and that will symbolise the page number of the presentation.

For my magazine design, I decided to do a multi-genre themed genre as there aren't many of them on them market at the moment, I based the design and theme of my magazine on 'Q' magazine as they tend to feature a range of different artists. [1 + 2]On my front cover I made sure that my masthead was clearly centred at the top of my page, as this would make sure that my audience would be able to indicate that it was a magazine. I made it white so it would stand out a lot more. I then made sure that my picture on the front cover was straight in the centre of the page, this way my magazine would have a main sell, this would also make my magazine follow the same forms and conventions of a real media product. To identify my main sell, I placed a bar across the picture, stating what it was and what would be in the magazine. I made sure that the masthead's font was sans serif this way it would connote professionalism and make my magazine seem more like a real magazine. I made the mise-en-scene of my magazine to be very natural looking, including the front cover image, this way the whole natural theme, with the colours and the background image would be a nice woodsy, warm looking theme, I also chose the colours red and green to make the magazine connote unisex, I wanted my magazine to be aimed at both boys and girls and by using these colours I made my magazine be able to do so. [3+4] I followed this colour theme into the contents page. I included a message from the editor, as when I did my research I found that most of the magazines had this on their contents pages, this way my magazine would also follow the forms and conventions of other magazines like it. I also included images of what else would be in my magazine down the right hand side of my contents page, as this again made my magazine look more real and more professional. [5+6]On my double page spread, I made sure I included at least two images of my main sell as double page spreads all tended to have more than one picture. I also made sure that my double page spread was in column form as many other magazines did this also. To make my magazine look more sophisticated I added a blown up quote on on of the pages from the interview, I did this as I thought it would make my magazine stand out and be more appealing to my audience.

Finished Products

Production Update - Comments Recieved

Over the weekend I made sure that I was able to get people's comments on my magazine. I tagged people who I thought would be interested in my magazine's genre and I made sure they tried to give a bit more detail than just one word responses. A few of my friends comments were quite useful and they stated what they liked about the magazine. Luckily, the people who commented didnt say many bad things about my magazine. One person wasnt sure about the colour scheme on my front cover as she didnt think it went very well, but then she stated that the colour scheme flowed through out the magazine and changed her mind when she saw the rest of the magazine. A lot of people liked the way my double page spread looked and how I made it look more professional by adding the giant quote on the right hand side. Also they liked the fact that it was quite a simple layout and it was too croweded, I liked this as I thought it connoted sophistication and I'm glad my audience picked up on this. My audience also liked the way my double page spread was laid out and they thought that the picture sizes were good and worked well with the page. One of my targeted audience said that they liked the way I had used the space to draw the eye to the interviewee, I never thought of it this way but I think that this adds more effect to my magazine and makes my magazine seem more real.

I have posted a picture of what my friends said about my magazine here.

Production Update

I gave myself a week to try and finish my magazine's double page spread. I finished this a lot quicker than I originally thought. I tried to follow my first draft outline, even though I did say that I wanted to try and make it like an old movie themed photo shoot and layout, this was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Also it didnt really fit in with the rest of the magazine, it was a bit random and didnt flow as well as I think it does now. From my research I noticed how many magazines' double page spreads writing is in a few columns, normally with more than one picture. I tried to follow through on this, as I believe that this connoted proffesionalism and it made my double page spread seem and look more realistic.

I now want to try and get my audiences opinion on how they think the magazine looks. To do this I have posted pictures of my front cover, contents page and double page spread on my facebook site. I have done this so people are able to see what I've done and whether or not my target audience like the ideas that I have done, whether they like the changes or whether they think it is completely wrong! By getting their comments I can quickly make changes before the final deadline.

Production Update

So far I have finished my front cover and have just finished my contents page also. Which I have included pictures of at the bottom of this post. To make my magazine front cover I included things like a barcode which I created myself on paint shop pro. I also made sure I included what would be inside the magazine and I made sure that my double page spread feature was the main focus on the magazine. I had to change my colour scheme but I believe that this made the magazine look a lot better than it would have looked if I had left it how it was.

Then I moved on to my contents page. I made sure I took a look at my first draft because even though, the colour scheme was going to be different I wanted to make sure I still followed the same layout of the first draft that I was going to do in the first place. I made sure I did this. I put a little note from the editor at the bottom as I believe that this connoted proffesionallism. I also added pictures of people who were going to be featured in the magazine a long the right hand side. I followed the theme of woods and greens and reds on my contents page as I believe that having the same colour scheme throughout the magazine makes it look like it has been thought about and it makes the magazine look a lot more proffesional which is what I was aiming for.

I am just about to start my double page spread. Like my other pages I will look at my first draft to get the jist of what I was going to do and make sure I follow the same sort of theme. However, I looked at my draft and I said I would try and make it look like a movie. I dont think this will be possible as when I took my pictures I found it too hard to do and my model wasnt that comfortable will being very dramatic. I will have to change what I wanted to do, but I will make sure that I follow the same sort of theme throughout the magazine.

I am going to give myself a week at least to be able to finish my double page spread.

Production : Update

So far I have tried out lots of different ways of making my front cover look and appeal to my target audience. Originally I had posted on my mood board that the colour scheme would be teal, magenta and green as I thought this would look a lot better and would appeal to my young audience. However after trying this out I believe that the colours made the magazine look too feminine and made the magazine very girly. However I wanted the magazine to be uni-sex and I believe these colours connoted girliness and this is not what I wanted. To make my magazine more manly and go better with the pictures I had taken, I've changed the colours scheme to greens and reds. This makes the magazine, in my opinion, look a lot more proffessional. I have included two pictures with this blog, one of how it looked with the original colour scheme and the other with the new improved colour scheme.

Before

After

Planning : Photos

Here are the pictures I have taken especially for this magazine project. I went on my facebook to ask peoples advice on which they thought would look best on the front cover.

By doing this I was able to get everyone's opinion on which they thought was best for my cover, in turn this would make my magazine more appealing to my target audience. I print screened some of the comments I got on my facebook page. From everyones reactions I believe that i have found the picture that should be on my front cover of the magazine.

Planning : Updates

Since my moodboard a lot has changed about they way I think the magazine should look. I am keeping the same colours as my targeted audience wanted but I have also changed a lot. I have changed the font face as many people didnt have much of an opinion on this, I want the font to stand out but not be too fancy and I believe my audience would be more attracted to the magazine if the title wasnt over the top but a word that explains the magazine in a short phrase/sentence or word. I have finally decided what I am going to do for my photos and I will shortly be starting to take these.

I also have the basic layout for my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. This means when it comes to making the real thing I will have a basic idea already there in my head. I will also put lots of different shots of the artists and make it look like a film strip, featured on the double page spread. By doing this it will make my magazine stand out and be a bit different from all of the other interviews you normally see. It should take my too long to edit my pictures so I should be done with taking the pictures reasonably quickly. Then I can put them onto my magazine.

I think I should be able to complete my magazine within the deadlines and hopefully it will be up to a good standard.

Planning : Shot Lists

For my magazine I will need to take primary source pictures. To make sure I get everything I need on my magazine I had to create a shot list. By doing this I will be able to organise all of the pictures I want and be able to plan what I need for the pictures. I made a shot list including what type of shot it would be, ( MCU, LS, etc ) Where it would be taken, who would be in the picture, If I needed any props and what technology I would need to use to take the picture successfully.


FRONT COVER SHOT
Shot Type : LS
Location : Photography Room, or Outside in the woods
Props/Costumes : Nothing, just as long as the person looks reasonably successful.
Actors : One person. Male or Female
Technology : Camera


CONTENTS PAGE 1
Shot Type : LS
Location : Outside
Props/Costumes : Same as above
Actors : Same as above
Technology : Camera


CONTENTS PAGE 2
Shot Type : MCU
Location : Photography Room
Props : Microphone/Guitar/Any musical Instrument
Actors : One person
Technology : Camera/Lighting


DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD
( Mulitple Shots )
Shot Type : LS/MCU
Location : In woods/Photography Room
Props : None
Actors : Same person featured on front cover
Technology : Camera

Doing this will help me with the idea for my magazine and will make my magazine seem much more organised. I have stated where I will take the photos, and in my head a have a way I would like them to look. By doing this I now have a clear idea of what my magazine looks like, all I need to do now is make sure it looks like how I want it to.

Planning : First Draft - Front Cover, Contents Page & Double Page Spread

Audience Research : Results

This blog is going to show the results of the opinions and views I got from my target audience when they saw my mood board. To get my mood board to my audience I posted it on my facebook page. I created the following questions for my audience to try and get their opinion :

1. Do you like the colours for the magazine?
2. Would you listen to the artists featured?
3. Do you like the font used, if not, why not?
4. Have you at one point, used all of the items featured?

By doing this I believe that I would be able to get an idea of what my audience would want to see on the magazine and whether what I had created on my moodboard was what my audience wanted to see. I had the moodboard up for a week and unfortunately I only managed to get a couple of replies, but from what they had said I believe I was on the right track. One member of my audience said "I love the colours all three of them together :), the fonts ok .. I would listen to all the artists, but you might need a wider variety .. And I have used all the items, and I love the colours!!!!" By what she said I believe that I got the right sort of layout that my audience would like but that I needed more of a range of artists in my magazine. She also didnt have much of an opinion on the font so I might need to change that and try something a bit different. The colours however, she thought were really good and suitable for my target audience of a mainstream young person, I believe these types of colours connote my target audience.

Before I posted the Mood Board I asked my audience what they would like to see inside of the magazine, just so I would have an idea of what type of thing my audience would like to see and also so it would give me an idea of what to do on my double page spread. Both of my audience members said they would like to see "Plenty of interviews and reviews with a range of different artists" This has given me an idea on what to do for my double page spread for my magazine. By getting people who match my target audience to post their ideas it makes my magazine seem more attractive to my targeted audience.

From my research I believe that I have the right sort of colours for my magazine, and that these would be the perfect colour scheme throughout the magazine all together. I reckon I might need to try a different type of font for my magazine as many people didnt have an opinion on it. The artists need to be a little more varied and ranged for my magazine. By doing all of these changes it should help my magazine to be more appealing to my targeted mainstream audience.

Now I need to get pictures for my magazine which reflect the types of artsits my audience would like to see. I need to get a picture for my front cover, contents page and double page spread. I will do this by taking photos and then editing them and using them in my magazine. This way it will be a primary source image.

Audience Research

My audience would like very mainstream artists. They would be between the ages of 15-19 as I believe this sort of age mainly enjoy artists or music that are in the mainstream as they have more knowledge of technology and would be able to hear mainstream music in lots of different places, eg. Radio, iPod, Youtube etc. , both female and male would be my targeted audience as I believe that men and women can like mainstream music and I would make the magazine unisex as more people would want to buy the magazine. Where the jicnar scale is concerned I believe they would be C1/B, as they would be young / inexperienced but they would be quite successful in school work. The psychographic suitable for my audience would be mainstreamers, aspirers and explorers, as they would be into things in the mainstream ( music, clothes etc ), aspirers as they would be young but would want to be successful and explorers as they would like a range of different things to do with the mainstream.

I created a mood board to get my ideas across on the magazine and how it should look, what type of artists would be featured, what type of things the audience would like and the type of colours that would be in the magazine. I will be putting my mood board on facebook and get questions for people to answer about my mood board. I will then take these comments on board when it comes to the finished design of my magazine.