Friday 23 April 2010

Production

Main Task

Music Magazine Cover



Music Magazine contents page



Music Magazine Double page spread


Preliminary Task

 
School magazine cover





School magazine contents page

Friday 26 February 2010

Evaluation

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


My music magazine follows codes and conventions of a typical magazines of the same genre, of ‘rock’. Firstly, I chose the colour scheme of black, white and blue, because to similar magazines like ‘Rocksound and ‘Kerrang’ they use very dark colours with usually one or two bright colours.

















For example in ‘Rocksound’, Black, blue, white and yellow are used. The image is simple but overcrowds the cover lines, and title, but still has an impact on the way it should attract the audience. I did this with mine using those colours, minus the yellow, but used a close up shot of a male around the same age of most members of ‘rock bands’ I thought this would be a great idea because although it deviates from the medium close-up’s other music magazines use, it stills gives that immediate attraction to the audience. The image on Rocksound uses a simple background that doesn’t complicate the image, and also contrasts to the picture with Black on White. I did this as well using a plain black background, but also as the image appears white, it contrasts.
The title on ‘Rocksound’ doesn’t jump out of the page, and is positioned so that it’s not very clear. I strayed from this and chose to make mine stand out a lot. As it’s the largest font on the cover i chose to make it much more unique. The typography I used was both sans, and sans serif. I decided to use both where other magazines keep to one because my audience reflects both. On one side you have a hard edge font with connotations of loudness, and energy, and the other connotes a classic audience, educated and appreciates the music and lyrics rather than just
The coverlines on my cover frame my main image just like my example, so that it doesn’t cover up the image. The usual positioning is to the left, so I chose to put it there, but also as it gave room for the main cover line to spread across the page. I coverline is one or two words long, and has 1 line of information about the content.
Almost every magazine I looked at had a banner at the top or bottom of the cover, so i chose to do mine at the bottom as it would have been too much at the top and made it top heavy with such a large title. They usually use band names/artists, or something along the lines of ‘top 100 best gig venues’. I chose to use bands as it is what my audience asked for, but also as they are well known. This gives a magazine an advantage, because if the audience see a popular band/artist on the cover, or even their name, they immediately want to know about it. The barcode is small and out of the way on the cover because it doesn’t overlap the advert on the back page.


For the contents page I kept to all of the codes and conventions in the development. Both contents are very similar in terms of the layout. I chose to use two columns for all content as it left me more room to put more text, but also so the page did not look dull, and too simple. I used headings of ‘Features’ and ‘Regulars’ to divide the sections and used a small description to say what the articles are about. In order for my magazine to look like a Rock magazine, I took pictures of people with a serious look and their clothes and style had to reflect on the existing Rock bands/ artists. I used a typical feature used on most contents – a guitar, as it connotes the genre of rock, and also immediately tells us it’s about music. I have used a consistent colour scheme to the Cover and DPS and kept the same font.

















My double page spread( bottom images) I used a consistent font, with both pictures, as does the example from Rocksound magazine. The image usually bleeds across both pages, so i took the image from the Blue October gig i went to, and thankfully it was a really good image to use for my DPS. I used 3 columns, to the right hand side page, and the image’s eye focus’s across the page, drawing attention to the article. I created a stand first keeping the same colour scheme as my cover and contents, and let my title spread across both pages. I credited myself with both images and article which is shown by the byline.

























 

2.How does you media product represent particular social groups?

I had an image in my mind what kind of music I was going to produce a magazine for. The ‘rock’ genre has many sub genres to cater for, so I decided that I would incorporate all of these into my magazine, instead of just using one typical genre of ‘rock’. With this, it appeals to a broader range of my audience. From classic rock, to screamo rock, from rockers, to moshers. My media product represents teenagers and younger adults who are into any genre of rock, as my magazine consists of sub genres like Punk rock, indie rock, pop rock. My magazine was aimed at these teens and so I produced it so they would like it and want to buy it. I tried to make it unique yet simple and not too wordy as most teenagers like facts, and pictures, and ‘looking at cute guys’. Moreover, the target audience I was trying to attract were mainly boys however girls are not excluded, as my audience is technically aimed at anybody with a love of Rock music. The colours used are dark and dominating, yet modern and simple; blacks, greys, and blue’ which connote anger, although the blue contrasts this with a relaxing tone. Which relates to the target audience I was going for. Their interests include style through fashion, and music. Therefore the types of clothes which they wear are usually skinny jeans, t-shirts, converse, and possibly leather jackets, with bold hair, with flashes of colour, reflecting onto the colour scheme with the flash of blue.




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

The media institution that I think would distribute my product would be one involved in catering for teens to younger adults in a genre of rock because that is what my project is aimed to do. A well known publishing organization that can distribute my magazine would probably be Bauer Media(http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/); it is the largest privately owned publisher in Europe. Bauer own both Q and Kerrang magazines, both in competition with my magazine. Due to the competition, i think that a newer more stylized version of Kerrang would sell regionally, as it offers, not only the most popular bands, but for the smaller bands not yet known worldwide, like ‘Blue October’ Also the company specialize in TV, and radio, Moreover owning 7 music channels broadcasted on television, and Kerrang radio. Due to this i feel that if my magazine was distributed by Bauer my audience would be influenced, and as its sold by a very well known company it would get more attention than it being in a less known company.







4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
A stereotypical member of my audience is somebody like Matt, who has a passion for Rock music, and lyrics. He plays the guitar/drums in his spare time. He usually wears skinny jeans, band t-shirts, and converse and spends hours on his hair- very style conscious. He was influenced by 70/80’s rocks bands, like AC/DC and Metallica. Matt lives in a regular sized house with his parents, his room being his place to hang out with his music and friends. He likes to listen to a bit of classic rock, although he listens to modern day rock, usually American bands, like ‘Lostprophets, 30 seconds to mars, and white lies etc.







5. How did you attract/address your audience?






6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process?







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


Throughout the development of my tasks, I feel like I have gained a lot of different skills. Using Photoshop before hand gave me the advantage, although I have developed my understanding, of some of the features Photoshop includes. Looking back at my Preliminary task, I could put effects onto my images, ‘cut out’ effectively, and had knowledge of text effects. During, my main task, I found out how to merge layers together once editing them.



From the preliminary task, I feel that my photography skills have developed a lot. I have learnt new ways in which to take the photos, the settings on the camera for the right setting, and the different camera angles to get a more effective look. I felt that I could be much more creative with headlines and the style of fonts and features to develop them in a more attractive way, for example, the title of my magazine from the main task. I used the brush tool to draw a pulse pattern through my title, which connotes how the heart’s pulse races when somebody is angry, which also tie in with the title ‘RAGE’




In finishing the project, I now understand that magazine front covers should ideally use a close-up image or medium close up for a cleaner layout. I now acknowledge that my preliminary task could have been improved by using a lot less colour and less font styles because it looked very messy and unorganized. I didn’t follow the conventions of how the main coverline should be he seconds largest font, therefore it looks like i don’t have a main coverline. In addition, I don’t think I should have used so much information or a busy background in my preliminary task because the cover looked too busy; little is more. I took all these points and looking over my main task i deviated from my mistakes. I used a close up image, but using only half the face. I chose to re colour his eye to the same blue as the title and coverlines so that against the pale face they would stand out a lot and capture the audience’s attention. The simple layout meant that i could frame the coverlines around the face and not crowd the layout, which worked well in my opinion as it looks fresh.



















Before After

For my contents page I have defiantly improved my skills on Quark Express.

During my preliminary task i used columns although they looked very untidy and the cut outs of the images didn’t look right once on the page. Although from my main task, my column looks very tidy and simple. For the main image I had to edit it so that the colour matched with the colour scheme. It was originally red, but i changed the hue and contrast so that it effectively went with my design.

My double page spread allowed me to explore with my writing skills. Writing up about a gig, meant that i could describe in detail, the atmosphere and how everything was. Using language that my audience would understand was simple. The target audience are for people either in school or fresh out form education. The large image effectively takes away the immediate reactions to the amount of words on the page, where from my survey; people didn’t like really long stories. So with that I tried to use an interesting image of the lead singer so it broke the words down a bit.

Thursday 3 December 2009

Planning: Progress, Decisions and Images



Work in progress.(screen grabs)


































After I had finally chosen on the cover image i then pieced it together.


















My final decisions for my magazine;


Title: Rage
Price: £3
Frequency: Monthly
Issue Size: around 90
Positioning statement: All aspects of ROCK!
Distribution: Music stores, supermarkets, newsagents,

Rationale: The magazine I will be creating will include regular reviews, competitions, and bands/artists that aren’t very popular, or don’t appear in most magazines. I will offer the audience a choice of subgenres that don’t normally appear in other music magazines. This will broaden the range in where the magazine is sold, and who buys it- being the target to be any gender of the ages from 16-25

Style: : The magazine will be informal and will use simple sentences. The font and style of it will influence of the conventional genre of rock, and images and design will be stereotypical to colours of rock magazines already out on the market.


Regular Content

Monthly reviews from gigs, or interviews
Competitions
Poster specials
Album of the month
Lyric of the month
Gig/ concert listings

Feature Content

GRIZZLY BEAR
What it’s like being on the New Moon soundtrack
WHITE LIES
Just a little white lie
MUSE
Matt Bellamey talks to you
HINDER
The bands success story
LINKIN PARK
LOSTPROPHETS
SHINEDOWN
On the street’s of London
SLIPKNOT’S IN KNOTS
RELIENT K
Forget and not slow down
BREAKING BENJAMIN
KINGS OF LEON
Truth behind the cover art
YOUNG GUNS
Get a taste for technology.
NEW FOUND TALENT
BULLET FOR MY 
VALENTINE
Are you ready?
ALL AMERICAN REJECTS

V. YELLOWCARD
PARAMORE
Talk about their new album
PRECISION
Their first concert revealed with an exclusive interview from the lead singer Darren
RADIOHEAD
30 SECONDS TO MARS
All you need to know
LIFEHOUSE
Becoming known
BLUE OCTOBER’S
APPROUCHING NORMAL
TOUR




House Style


Coverlines: BOOK ANTIQUA
Headlines: CALIBRI
Standfirst: Centaur 14pt
Captions: Centaur pt
Features first paragraph: Drop capital in CALIBRI 9 lines deep and first line in capitals
News first paragraph: first letter bold, first line in CAPITALS
Body text: Times New Roman 11pt
Colour scheme: Black, white, blue


Front cover image

Male/female early 20’s


Dark smart clothing
Heavy black makeup
Styled hair
Medium close up
Eye contact without smile. Reflecting attitude and style.






Coverlines

WIN an all inclusive trip to L.A to see Greenday.


Yellowcard v. All American rejects. YOU DECIDE!


White Lies’ –‘Just a little white lie’
Lifehouse- their crack of fame
Exclusive! Poster special.


Images






























Design Sketches.


































Sunday 1 November 2009

Main Task: Research and Survey

Codes and conventions of a music magazine cover.



  • There is one main image, usually of a medium close-up of a band/artist.
    -not smiling and uses direct address, which conveys attitude
    -main coverline- anchors the meaning of the main image, and is always the largest text, aside from the title
  • Title is normally one word and in top left corner.
    -uses a unique font
    -largest text on cover
  • Consistent colour scheme, with few colours
  • Typography is undeviating throughout and few font used.
    -the font connotations reflect the target audience and subject
    -two types of font are:
    -Serif T
    -Sans serif T
  • Coverlines are written with few words as possible
    -main coverline
    - two lines
    -other coverlines
    -two or three lines
    - produce info about the content
    -they frame the main image or are positioned to the left
    -intrique the audience
  • Positioning statement is by the title
  • Masthead
    -Issue date, Price, Title, positioning statement
  • Strip/banner above title, or at the very bottom.
    -includes lists of band/artist names and/or topics
  • Buzz words draws in attention
    -e.g Exclusive, free.
  • Puff's- includes something extra in the magazine.
    -e.g free poster
  • Barcode- so it doesn't overlap the advert on the back page.


Codes and conventions of a music magazine contents page
  • Letter from the editor
  • Word 'contents' displayed at the top of page
  • One large main image, plus smaller images
    -page numbers on images to anchor them to written contents
  • Same font and colour scheme as the cover
  • Uses headings to divide and section out contents
    -collumns (2/3)
    pg.no TEXT
    one or two words
    sublines usually in smaller font
  • Regular and Featured content
  • White background
  • Date
  • Contact details
  • Title of the magazine at the bottom of the page
Codes and conventions of a double page spread.
  • Introduction
    -Standfirst is always by heading which also tells you about it.
  • Quotes are used on the main image to anchor to text.
  • One large main image.
    -takes up whole page
    -usually bleeds across both pages
  • Creative use of photography
    -photograpger is credited
  • More than one image.
    -small images are used to break up the layout making it more inviting
  • Strap line is often used to bleed
  • Artists name is highlighted
  • Headline should be abstract, creative and eyecatching.
  • Inofrmal style of writing.
    -personality comes through with personal opinions.
    Byline is positioned by the standfirst
  • Page number, title and issie date used.
  • website listed
  • use of limited colour
  • split into collums.


Magazine Research


Genre; ROCK
Target Audience; Male+Female 16-25

ROCKSOUND magazine


Price: £3.60
Frequency: Monthly
Issue size: 130 pages
Regular content: RSVP/ The Noise/ Exposure/ Reveiws/ Lives
Feature Content: Biffy Clyro/ 30 Seconds to mars/ AFI/ Papa Roach





KERRANG! magazine


Price: £2.20

Frequency: Monthly
Issue Size: 72
Regular Content:Gig guide/ Feedback/ News/ Reveiws/ Album reveiws/ Swag
Feature content: Bring me the horizon/ FACT/ Rammstein/ Architects/ Paramore/
Behemoth





From here I conducted a questionnaie to help with the choices i will be making to produce my magazine.




Questionnaire Analysis



I asked 20 people of my target audience various questions to help me with decisions of the design and contents of my magazine.



1. Who is your favourite band/artist?
30 seconds to mars
Muse (2)
All American Rejects
Youmeatsix
Britney Spears
Jonas Brothers
Greenday (2)
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
Kanye West
Kings Of Leon (2)
Story of the year
Cliff Richard
JLS
Enter Shikari
The Kooks
Pink

Because a lot of people have different opinions on different artists/bands, I will take the more popular ones and include them in my production, and maybe a few other rock bands that they said. Muse and Greenday are popular rock bands and including them will make the audience attracted to the magazine.

2. What colours attract you to a music magazine?

















According to my results the most popular colours that attracted people to a magazine were black and red. The next most popular colours were blue and purple. Dark colours seem to be the better option to take, with the results, but also because most of them are stereotypical to a music magazine.




3. Name tree words you associate with ROCK music.


Gigs (8)
Drums (3)
Tattoos
Gibson
Dance (3)
Guitars (5)
Black (3)
Energy
Dark (2)
Metal
Leather (2)
Skinny jeans (2)
Nice hair
Eyeliner (2)
Rage
Loudness (2)
Moshers


I decided to include this question because it allows me to view people’s different take on things, but also I can get ideas from this for the title of the magazine, and/or interpret them. Most of the answers will allow me to include some of these with my cover image of the magazine and what they should look like, or the colours I should use. Moreover the word ‘RAGE’ would make an interesting title as it has connotations of loudness and a dark sense to it, which would reflect onto the drums and how energy is produced with rock music.



4. What is your favourite colour?















Just like question 2, Black and red seem to be the most popular colours, so I will defiantly use them as a colour scheme on my magazine. Also green, purple and blue seem to be popular so I may decide to use them as well.



5. If you do, how often do you buy a music magazine?













I found that most people bought magazines every month, rather than every week, so as a result, my magazines frequency will be monthly.


6. How much would you pay for a music magazine?

















£2-£3 was what the majority of people said they would pay for a music magazine, although 8 people said they’d pay £3 or more. Based on this I am going to price my magazine at £3 so it is between both amount, and most music magazines are priced either higher, and a little lower than this, making my choice seem reasonable.




7. Which music magazines do you like to read?














My results tellme that NME and Kerrang are the most popular magazines read and that, although 2 people said they didn’t at all. From this I’ve decided that I will look at Kerrang and/or NME as my style models for producing my magazine.





8. What main features do you look for on a music magazine cover?


Free Posters (5)

Good/Intriguing artists (3)
New found talent (3)
Free downloads
Free gifts (3)
Gig guides (2)
Exclusive interviews (2)
Features of favourite bands/artists

All the most popular answers I will include as main features or regular content in my contents. Also free posters is what people like about a music magazine, so including both will make my cover more effective.




9. Does a solo artist or a group make a cover more effective?

















I asked them this question so it gave me an idea of what cover image I would have. It seems that most people say groups are more effective on a cover than solo. Although some of this may have been biased because the majority of people I asked were female. So I may decide to use a solo artist for my cover- due to 5 people not minding wether a group or solo artist.





10. What do you dislike about music magazines?



Adverts (12)
Lack of articles
Unnecessary information
They don’t include unpopular bands/artists with great talent (2)
Only one genre (2)
Long Articles
Too many bad reports on artists/bands


From this I noticed that a lot of people said they hated adverts, that they don’t include artists/bands that are well known and that there is only one genre. So from this I have decided to include many sub genres within my magazine, so that the audience has a broader range, unlike some magazines that only have one genre. Also I will include bands that aren’t very popular, or don’t appear in most magazines-because according to the question what they did like what new found talent, and exclusive interviews.



11. What do you like about music magazines?

Free stuff [posters, merchandise] (7)
Favourite bands on the cover (6)
Stories about new bands/artists
Interviews
Upcoming concert/gig details (5)
Gossip
Good pictures


Free stuff seems to be what attracts people to a magazine so I will defiantly include them on my cover + contents pages. A lot of people also said that they liked upcoming concert/ gig details, so I will include this on my regular features, but will also include an interviews section as they said they liked this too.



12. Are you male or female?


















The majority of the people I asked were females so the usual outcome would be biased, although looking at my result the fact there are more hasn’t affected the results, in fact they seem to be similar. Moreover, as I analyse the results more males than females read the type of magazine I am going to produce.

Here, an audience member has recorded some answers.