Photoshoot inspiration

This image inspired the photo-shoot for my magazine. I wanted to recreate something like this but wanted a more of an hip hop feel to it so I made my model wear a hoodie like the girl in this picture. However I did not like her facial expression because she is not looking at the camera and magazine models usually do so that it seems they are looking directly at the person who is potentially going to buy it. For the double page spread I made my model also wear the hood up to look more fierce and edgy.

Contents Page Reaserch

This contents page has a lot of information and the writing is quite small so that everything could fit and no space is wasted. The main colours are red, black and grey. These colours are more likely to appeal to a male audience. The fonts are easy to read yet they all look the same and blend together. This is something I’d rather avoid because it makes everything clump together and looks boring.

I would like my contents page to look more like this one that the Q contents page because it suits my target audience. It has feminine colours and would attract teenage girls. It has smaller subheadings that break up different parts of the magazine; this is something I would like to do as it is effective and quite a useful feature to use. 

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

My draft front cover looked very unprofessional and it had a edit on it that did not match the genre or style of my magazine. I then had to make a lot of changes and improvements to fit my target audience and genre of the music magazine. I took a whole new set of photos, this time it was from further way so that the picture wouldn’t be stretched, I also used an inside white background so that I wouldn’t have to cut thing out of the background and spoil the photograph.  At first I put an edit on it but after realising it looked cheap and unprofessional, I changed it and kept the original colour.

 also had to use different fonts and the main colours on the front magazine. I stuck to typically ‘feminine’ colours such as pink, purple and yellow as my magazine was for a female target audience.

As for the double page spread, I used a less edited photo to make it more professional and link the article better to the picture. I stuck to the colours on the front cover to again link it to the cover line.

Through the progression I have learned how to make the magazine look more authentic with a choice of specific fonts, colours and style of photographs. I have learned that plainer photographs look a lot more sophisticated and pricy than over edited pictures with a lot of effects. The contents page requires a lot of information therefore space cannot be wasted. The double page spread requires a lot of writing however it is good to break up some paragraphs to make it look more effective instead of having long, boring paragraphs. The writing has to flow throughout the page.

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

Before starting this project, I was not very good at editing digitally, but after starting the project I’ve improved a lot. I have had a few problems with my media product especially with the front cover, my photo was not positioned correctly and the text was too close to the edge. I did not know how to reduce the stretched effect but I then cropped the photo so that it would fit.

So I had to use many ranges of programmes to help me, especially Serif Photo plus as I knew how to use it and I had to edit the photos I took to improve them. This was helpful when trying to make the photos stand out and for when I had to sharpen or cut out certain parts of the photo.

The second thing I have learnt in this project is how to use blogger. I have had a Tumblr blog before so this step was easy for me to do. 

The final thing I have learned to do was to use Serif Page Plus. This is software perfect  for making the front cover, double page spread and contents page. It allows you to edit fonts, text and pictures. With this software I made my product. It was quite difficult to use at first because it had many different features but once I learned how make the front cover, making the DPS and contents page was easy. The difficult part of using it was trying to make the paragraphs fit and be in line with each other, without having to be craped together. I was really trying to make use of the spare space so that it is not wasted.

 

 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The social groups that I want to attract are teenagers and young adults. The audience that my production is targeted at would be working class and perhaps the middle class. I think this because teenagers and students would not necessarily have a big income and students are portrayed as being frugal.

I have represented class within my production through the front cover. The person on my front cover can be seen as working class because of the casual choice of clothes as well as the genre of music this person is associated with. The girl is wearing a hooded sweatshirt that is associated with hip hop and you would not see an upper class person wearing this. The way she is dressed and presented challenges the stereotype that middle class are well presented however. If it was a magazine exclusively for middle and upper class it would probably be something like a classical music magazine. I think this because you do not expect wealthy people listening to mainstream music or genres like hip hop. You can also see the potential target audience through the style of the double page spread. In the photo the girl has her hood up which again stresses the working class stereotype with teenagers and young people in general wearing hoodies.

The age of the people who would view or buy my product would be ages 16-24. The person on the front cover and double page spread is a similar age, the girl is portrayed as being at least 20. Because of this she is more likely to reach out to the audience as you relate to people closest to your age rather than much older or much younger people. My product supports the stereotype that young people are rebellious and like to risk things to get the ideal outcome. As well as the idea they like to party and have fun.

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

My music magazine challenges conventions because it has a unique central image that’s unlike the other music magazine’s I’ve seen and researched. The colours are typically feminine, using font in different shades of pink and purple. This way I can appeal to the female target audience. My magazine also has a barcode like all the magazines this makes it look authentic.

The masthead of my magazine is in conventional place and it is similar to ‘Q’ magazine as it has a pronounced letter on the logo, making the magazine recognisable.

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

The audience for my media product would be young people aged 16-24 and mostly female. This is because of the choice of colours and the genre of my magazine. I kept the front cover feminine using bright and bold colour like pink and purple. I also used a female model because it appeals to young girls and it also relates to them.  

The target audience is more likely to be socially active and people who like to go to music festivals as well as people who listen to music on mobile phones, iPods, computers etc.

 

How did you attract/address your audience?

Firstly, I carried out research into  target audience to see what kind of magazines appeal to my chosen target audience. I had to make sure that the front cover was appealing to my target audience. I formed a questionnaire in order to gain more information about the target audience and more information about what they would like to see in a music magazine.  

I decided that the genre of my music magazine would be hip-hop and pop genre. I chose more than one genre to cover a wider target audience so that more people would potentially buy it. To attract the audience I used a range of colourful and bold fonts to really make people notice it if they would see it in a shop or magazine stand.

The target audience research showed that to appeal to young people I had to use bright colours and bold fonts. The front cover also had a young person on it that would relate to a younger target audience.

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

I think a good media institution that could distribute my media product is Bauer Media. Firstly, because they publish a wide variety of different magazines that range from different target audiences including men, women and teenagers. I think my magazine will challenge but also help become familiar to the distributors of how to target this magazine at the correct audience.
Secondly, one of their magazines 'Kerrang!' is the world's biggest selling weekly music magazine and original multi-platform youth brand for all rock genres, which has also secured an army of dedicated, music loving fans. Furthermore, my magazine could benefit from being distributed by
Bauer as they are known worldwide, allowing them to be able to promote my product well nationally.

Finally, the industry doesn't produce a magazine within the genre of Hip-Hop and Rap, and because
Bauer have been running for a number of years (1875), therefore my magazine would offer them a good direction into the British/American hip-hop and pop market. Which also will give readers a genre that is new and fresh in this institution.

Double Page Spread

Front Cover evaluation

Central Image: I have chose this picture to be the front cover because the way the person posed in it is usual and would stand out. It also links well to the main cover line and has a good face expression that would appeal to my target audience which is mostly female.

Font: I used a mixture of different fonts to again link to the target audience and I wanted my magazine to have a pop theme, I think the font really suits the genre of the music of this magazine which is mainly pop and electric pop.

Colours: I tried to stick with colours that would appeal to females in the age group of 16-24. Pink is strongly associated with girls that is why a lot of the font is in this colour. The purple goes well with the pink so I've decided to have some cove lines in purple so that all the colours work together. The yellow is essentially to make some text stand out from the rest more and it visually looks good with the rest.

Masthead: I kept the positioning of the logo the same as most other music magazines; in the corner. I did this because it stands out, it looks more professional as well as it does not overwhelm the central image or other cover lines.

Slogan: The slogan is short, tasteful and simple. It creates a recognisable brand along with the masthead.

Puff: (Win V fest tickets) I tried to make the puff relatable to the target audience. Young people like to go to music festivals therefore I think this puff would appeal.

Mock up of School Magazine contents

Contents page

Task 19

Planning a photo-shoot for double page spread

 

The photos that I will use on the double page spread will need to be visually similar to the front cover so that it links. The pictures I am going to take will need to be of the same person.

 

Aims:

 

I want the photos to look professional and high quality. They are going to have to be appropriate for the target audience. The bright colours are going to stand out.

 

Location:

 

I will probably take the photos in a big room with lots of light so that they photos look better. With a white background you could put a lot of text over it.

 

Props:

 

I don't think I will be using any props because the model will be a singer that will be talking about herself so the pictures for the article need to focus on her as a person instead of adding in props that will only distract the audience from the main idea.

 

Models:

 

The person modelling for me is my friend Zoe, she will be an artist called Missy Fuze.

 

 

DPS Draft

Media Pack

Double Page Spread Analysis 1

Evaluation

                                                    
This is the draft front cover. I tried different overlays to give the magazine a futuristic feel since the magazine's main genre was synthpop and electro pop which have a very specific association with synthesisers and can sound very alien like. The font is bright to stand out and to go with the masthead theme. However I decided that the main picture was not good enough to be on the front cover because it is too different from the cover images used on actual music magazines therefore it looked too unprofessional.



Over all I decided this front cover was better for me to use because it had a better media value and message.
This front cover suits my target audience better because it has colours that appeal more to a female audience as well as a logo that makes my magazine recognisable. There are a few different fonts for the cover lines to make some stand out more than others.

How Magazines make money?

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow came up with an idea that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfil the next one, and so on.

The earliest and most widespread version of Maslow's (1943, 1954) hierarchy of needs includes five motivational needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.

                                                    How do magazines make money?

Circulations and Subscriptions

-       When we go to the news-stand and buy magazines of our choice, the profit from that sale makes money for the magazine. However, there is very little profit from this, once you factor in the price it costs to make the magazine, the cost to transport it to the news-stand and the commission the magazine company must pay the news-stand company for providing space to sell its magazine. Magazines make far more money from subscriptions since they cut out at least one of the intermediaries and get their product directly to the consumer. Magazine companies also have your address so they can make a pitch to renew your magazine subscription when it comes due, as well as pitch any other magazines they may produce that they think could be of interest to you.

        Advertising

-     Magazines are full of ads. The single best way that a magazine makes money is by allowing advertisers to use its unused space throughout the magazine, including the covers and inside front and back cover. Not only does the magazine make money with this form of advertising, it also fills up the pages by placing ads in space on pages around the story lines. The magazine looks better and its revenue increases.

Questionnaire results

Results

Person 1

Age?  16-19

Gender? Female

Occupational Status? Student

How often do you purchase music magazines? EVERY 3-5 MONTHS

What is your favourite genre of music? Pop

Would you spend £2.50 on a magazine? Yes

Do you go to music events? Yes

Do you like the front cover? Yes

Person 2

Age?  13-15

Gender? Male

Occupational Status? Student

How often do you purchase music magazines? Once a month

What is your favourite genre of music? Rock

Would you spend £2.50 on a magazine? Yes

Do you go to music events? Sometimes

Do you like the front cover? Yes

Person 3

Age?  20-25

Gender? Female

Occupational Status? Part time work

How often do you purchase music magazines? Every 3-5 months

What is your favourite genre of music? Alternative

Would you spend £2.50 on a magazine? Maybe

Do you go to music events? Not very often

Do you like the front cover? Yes

Lifestyle Questionnaire Sheet

Lifestyle Questionnaire

1.     What is your age?

                     13-15 [   ]    16-19 [  ] 20-25 [  ] 25-30 [  ] 35+ [  ]

2.     What is your gender?

                      Female [  ]                                        Male [   ]

3.     What is your occupational status?

Student [   ] Part time work [   ] Full time work [  ] Unemployed [  ]

4.     How often do you purchase music magazines?

Once a week [  ] Once a month [   ] Once every 3-5 months [  ] or once a year [  ]

5.     What music genres do you like the most?

Pop [  ] Rock [  ] Hip-Hop [  ] Alternative [  ] Classical [  ] Other[  ]

6.     Would you pay 2.50 for a magazine? 

                                                                  Yes [    ]   No [   ] Maybe [  ] 

7.     Do you go to music events like concerts, gigs and festivals?

                                        Yes, often [  ] Sometimes [   ]  Not very often [   ]  No [    ] 



                                                 8. Do you like the front cover? 

Yes [   ]   No [   ] 

Task 12

I chose this picture to be on my cover because it looks a lot better and it is a mid shot. I liked how the cover model was posing and the way her face expression went with the theme and style of the magazine.

 

I liked this picture but decided not to use it since it was sepia, this edit is often used on hip-hop and indie rock magazines therefore it only partly fitted in with the target audience.

 

I did not use this picture for the final cover because it was difficult not to stretch it since it was a close up and it didn't have much of a media message I needed on the cover of my magazine.

FRONT COVER

Draft front cover

MOJO Magazine Analysis

Masthead

The masthead of this magazine 'MOJO' is a short name that is very catchy. It is in black because it shows the high brand values as well as making the magazine more classic. The name is short so that people remember it. It is an informal word so it aims itself at the people opposite from the upper class.

Genre

The word mojo means a magic charm, talisman, or spell. As well as influence, especially magic power therefore it links with the aims of this magazine and the key features since this magazine covers a wide range of genres from classic and modern rock to folk, electronic and more experimental genres such as post-punk. This magazine is of is of high brand values and integrity.

Theme

The colour theme is red and black so it appeals to a wider audience since these colours are neutral and the magazine is popular amongst females as well as male. The font and language used is more formal, this will appeal to an older audience more because they are more likely to appreciate this formal style of the magazine.

Cover Lines

The main cover line ties in with the image as it is about the Smiths who are featured on the front. Again they are written in a formal language but it is not too formal as phrases such as 'We rocked' are used. The colours match the house style of red this makes the magazine more professional.

 

Main Image

The main image shows the two most know members of the Smiths. They are looking straight at the camera which makes it look as if they are addressing directly to the audience. The guitarist is holding the guitar across his shoulder this gives a rock star kind of feel to it and link in with the quote "We Rocked!".

Front Cover Draft