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

Looking back at my preliminary task i believe there is no comparison in the quality of work between that and my final product. My preliminary task, although it followed conventions of a basic magazine front page set up was not to a professional standard. The photo shop skills i used were little and basic while the contents page of the magazine i made was totally tacky cheap and very unprofessional looking. The colours on the page a dull and boring and the page is set out in a very un-inspiring way. The sizes of text on the page vary while text along the banner on the front page is difficult to read.

Just at a glace of both products it is clear to see to anyone that i have learnt alot about photo shop and have expanded and developed ideas using the software to a much more professional standard.

While carrying out this piece of work i have learnt alot of photoshop and mastered alot of new skills on the software such as how to use the magnetic lasso tool effectively and taking pictures which are of good quality and suitable for manipulation. Carrying out research in depth before carrying out my final product allowed me to rethink ideas i had previously and adapt them to be of a suitable good, professional quality and learn from the lack of that in my preliminary task. I have also learnt to lay out the pages in a more friendly and relaxed manner, when comparing my preliminary and final product the final product is alot less angular than my preliminary task, this gives it a more relaxed and consumer friendly feel. The colours used in my final production are more eye-catching and appealing, between the production of the preliminary task and my final pieces i have learnt the colours use din my previous piece were not attracting my audience at all and that something much more dramatic needed to be produced.

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

For this product i used a few various pieces of technology. The first being a digital camera to take the pictures. It was important that i learnt to make sure i used the correct settings for the photos being taken, long short close ups, moving images etc. The mastering of the technology was easy enough as its something i use on a regular basis, however getting the technique of the shots right was the important part, making sure the lighting was right and the focus was right, this was the difficult part of the picture taking process but i feel i overcame it well.

The other main piece of technology i had to learn to use correctly was photo shop. This took alot of work to accomplish, considering this is a very high tech professional piece of software i believe that my final product i created was pretty well giving my lack of experience on the software. I learnt how to use various aspects of the software like mastering how to use the magnetic lasso tool, this could be a painstakingly slow process and required alot of concentration on the photo or image you are trying to cut of it all messes up and you find yourself having to start again. Adjustment of the brightness and colours on the page was also another tricky task, it was difficult to not always select all the layers which could then change everything as opposed to just the one bit you wanted to edit. The the use of the hue and saturation elements of the programme. The use of the magic wand was also another skill i feel i mastered to perfect my work. This allowed you to select whole chunks of information at a time, however in doing this it could sometimes not always select the right things, it was important it was only used on simple things like text or it would not work correctly.

To show what i have learnt in the progression of the project i have included a construction analysis of the front page of my blog below to demonstrate the tools i used and what i learnt.

I started by gathering myself a background, this is a grey background of a wall in the underground tunnel, this will serve as a good back layer underneath the other backgrounds.

The i added a black square background over the top of the grey layer and added on a textual effect to this layer, this text was found on DaFont.com , then creating this merged two layers together to make this black background and text as one layer.

Cutting out my main band image, and erasing the two further back members who don't fit in the image well and cutting out the image of the train using the magnetic lasso tool i then add these two images to the page. ( of magnetic lasso tool bar, image during process of being cut, and page so far)

I then have added Bright blue lines, along the banner where the headline is and the top and bottom of the black part of the background, this then makes these areas stand out, it also starts to show a development in the page as it seems to be coming together better. This is done simply using the paint tool.

I then added the title which was again discovered at Dafont.com, this I then edited by using the blue colour again, selecting it with the dropper tool, then using the paint tool drawing the blue around the title, this is a long process and incredibly fiddly.

I then added the barcode and poster images along the bottom of the page, this i done again by simply by selecting these images and pasting them onto the photo shop document and resizing them. The blue effect around the edge of the posters was again made in the same way at the title had, using the paint brush tool.

I then added all the text onto the page, this was done simply using the texts on the photo shop software, Changing the PLUS to blue was done easily by using the tin of paint tool and using the dropper to select the correct colour.

Evaluation 5. How did you attract / address your audience?

To attract my audience i made sure to follow conventions which had been proven to be successful in current top selling magazines, such as the positioning of the magazine mast head and the Headline in a become in certain position on the page. Doing this following conventions on the simple parts of the magazines will make sure the audiences eye is drawn to the magazine on first off. The main image i have used is a Good appealing one to use to draw the audience when combined with the picture of a underground train in the background. The train allows our eyes to be drawn due to the colour and to focus on the image of the 3 people on the page. The people used in this image all follow conventions that the audience want to see e.g the happy guy, the serious guy and the sexy member of the group. The posters pictures used are good bright vibrant colours so that they appeal to there customers and make them want to buy the magazine for the posters more, The promise of new knowledge in the plus section of the magazine as well as the headline of the top story mean that people become even more drawn to the magazine Using the bright white against the Black and Blue makes a good contrast so that the plus section stands out well to the audience.

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

The audience for my media product was previously described in my analysis of a chosen target audience previously in the blog. The target audience will be of teenagers and young adults between the age range of 17-22 ... because of this my magazine needed to have stories which would appeal to all of them, looking at my contents page i believe i have found a balance in the stories to attract a various number of readers while all still being in my target audience range. Here is a link back to a previous post in my blog which will explain my target audience in more detail.http://nicola-drewett.blogspot.com/2010/03/analyzing-target-audience.html 

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

Once a magazine has been created its important that you can find a publishing company to print it. Doing some research i have found 3 potential music magazine producers. These are IPC media http://www.ipcmedia.com/

FuturePLC http://www.futureplc.com/

Rhrinegold publishing http://www.rhinegold.co.uk/

Rhinegold is a majority music based music publication magazine. Because of this it at first appears to be

a perfect publications company. However on further research into the company it becomes

apparent that this company only produces magazines of a educations based music industry. Because of

this the publication would be unlikely to publish my magazine as one its not educational, and two

it really doesn't fall into any of the music genres that the company publish. Because of these they will

not be interested in my rock / indie magazine. FuturePLC may be more likely to want to produce my

Magazine, they specialize more in classic rock as well as producing a variety of guitar magazines. They

Also produce a couple of Metal magazines such as MetalHammer. Because of this FuturePLC may well

want to publish my magazine as its still within their genre of rock but totally different to what they

currently publish. If I presented my Rock / Indie magazine to them they would most likely produce it

as they currently don't have a magazine falling under this particular genre and would be keen to expand

into this niche of the market, my magazine is a ideal opportunity for them to potentially take over alot

of the music magazine industry, making strong competition against other publication companies.

IPC could also be another potential magazine publican, they produce a variety of Magazines including top

seller NME, because of this the publications however would be wary at producing a similar magazine which

may reduce falls in one of the current best sellers. If they were not already publishing NME they would

most likely publish my magazine unstably as my magazine brings similar qualities to that of NME.

Evaluation 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups

My media product represents the rock indie social group. It represents them in a successful way. When most people are asked to describe a typical rock or indie person they will stereotypically think of men long longish hair and girls typically with dyed hair. These people will traditionally wear black or dark outfits normal contrasted b a splash of colour across the dark clothing. The images i have used throughout my media product follow these conventions with all the models fitting the stereotypical views of a rock / indie person. The colour scheme of the magazine also follows conventions of rock and indie colour themes and vibes. With the electric blue, Black and Grey colour scheme, the black and grey fitting well with the darker rock side and the electric blue bringing out the bright funk like side of rock the colours work well in co-ordination with the magazine genre and the images used in it. The white writing used for text also works well as a bright and eye catching colour against the others as it doesn't blend as simply as they do, meaning that they white draws the audiences attention as well as portraying a mishmash and fun environment through the text, referring to the fact that this social group is represented to be of a mishmash and not following the rules of normal society.

Looking at my magazine it is apparent that There is a particular Racial group is being portrayed throughout my magazine. All the people across my magazine are white, this is not due to a racist reasoning but more on the fact of following conventions. Looking at all the magazine i analyzed there is no other ethnic minorities other than white people. Because of this the trend generally shows rock / indie magazine are full of mostly white artists so here i followed conventions and used white models for my work.

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

My media product, uses, develops and challenges form and convention used across the magazine based area of media work. My media product will follow the conventions of the headline along the top of the page, Barcode in a non obtrusive position on the page. When comparing my magazine to that of the rock sound front page i analysed earlier in the blog, my magazine front page follows styles such as the headline across the middle and the picture layout on the page. I believe however my front page has developed ideas within the front page of rock sound, such as the development of the main image to make the images more eye catching and appealing to the audience to see. My front page where its following conventions does it well and simplistically creating a inviting and attractive piece for the audience which follows the standards they expect to see from other magazines meaning nothing feels out of place and it blends in well along a range of magazines while still catching the audiences attention. My magazine challenges the convention of not having a pug on my front page however looking at my front page it was very difficult to find a suitable coloured pug which would suitable work with the colour scheme on my front page for example if i were to use a pug like this it would not look right and would be out of place. As this sort of colour will not work on my page it limits the availability of uses of the pugs as the while point is they are meant to stand out and if you cant use a bright eye-catching colour like yellow there is no point putting a pug in as you wont be able to find one that will work effectively or look right.



On my contents page my page will again follow convention, with a varity of pictures and text in a organised format it looks like a basic contents page from any other actual magazine. When comparing my magazine to Other music magazine mine doesnt follow the totally same conventions as they do. However when looking at mine in comparison to NME's contents page i can see mine is totally different to theres, however i believe that mine is alot more appealing to the public than NME's because its clearer to read and laid out in a more user friendly manner. Looking at mine i believe that it has a more eyecatching appear than the NME despite follwoing a style of music magazine layout.

Looking at my double page spread I believe this one works well in the way i have laid it out. Looking at it i believe it is of a similar style to that of NME's double page spread however with my own individual twist. This is because i believe the style of the amount of writing on that page of NME was too much. On my double page it has less writing which i believe works better. However mine still follows similar conventions to that which NME stick to such as the house style colour scheme, of blue black, white and grey. Similar to that of NME which follows its colour scheme of Black white green and grey. Mine also follows the conventions of quotes within the page and smaller pictures on the spread. I believe my double page has followed conventions well and looks goood and to a professional standard.

Final Double Page Spread

Final Contents Page

Final Front page

Construction Analysis

Photo Analysis

This is the image i wish to use for my main image. I believe this image will work well to be the main frontal image as it is a focused medium shot picture. The poses being pulled by a the 3 members of the band closest to the camera all portray good emotions from the person. The front Central person is portraying a serious emotion of concentration, this look will be good at drawing in the audience as the intent expression will be of interest to the audience. To the left the male member of the band in the checked shirt is pulling less of a serious expression producing more of a smirk, this works well as he will appeal to the audience as the fun loving goofy member of the band, following a convention of which the audience has come to expect when seeing a image of a band. The girl on the right hand side in the skulls top is again following conversions. She is pulling a very seductive pose with her hands on her hips, red hair perfectly framing her face and her lips pursed in a pout, she comes across as a very sexy member of the band. This will appeal to both male and females members of the audience as, girls will want to look like her, full of confidence and power while male readers will find her sexy and attractive drawing them to the magazine and the article featuring her further inside.

There is one main fault with this image, this resolves around the 2 people set further back in the image, these seem out of place as the boy has his eyes shut therefore the photo pose looks bad, tacky and unprofessional, while the females is very short behind the 2 males on the left hand side so her head appearing just above their shoulders looks out of place and makes the image look like it has been badly set out.

However despite this the first 3 described members are pulling a ideally perfect pose, to refine this image and make it a successful shot for a front page i will cut out the 3 well posed band members and places them onto a blank background within photo shop where i can then use the edited image how i desire.

This second image is will be one i will use for one of my poster images alot the bottom. This is a good image for a a poster as it is a fun, colourful vibrant picture of a band group. For a more indie come band, the public expect to see a more happy vibrant picture, this will work perfectly as the people in the image are all happy, whist the lead singer here, (the male) has a hair cut distinctly following the conventions of the hair styles we come to expect to see from indie / rock bands thus appealing the the audience more. There are problems with the such as the piece of string along in the front of the picture however this can be easily fixed by mearly cropping the image to remove this section.

This next image above is another image i am going to use as a poster picture for along the bottom of my front page spread. I believe this will be a good image to use as it is a medium shot well framing both males present in the picture. This sort of picture is a good picture to be used advertising a poster on the front page. It Shows a comically scene between 2 members of a band, one being well built and strong while the other is small and pretty weak looking, this comical image will appeal to the audience. The colours used are eye catching and drawing, while the medium shot is is the perfect shot size to use when creating a poster such as this. There is a problem with this image as the forward model has got his fist slightly covering the face of the one further back however, i don't think many will find this a problem as the image will be condensed down smaller and this can just add to the humor of the image.

This is the final image i will be using for my posters being advertised on my front page. This image will be perfect as it is from a actual performance, it will appeal greatly to the audience. The medium shot looking up at the performer gives a feeling of power and confidence flooding from the picture, this will draw the audiences attention. The fact it is taken from a actual performance means that the audience will be more drawn to it, as the image is of mostly white colours, it will contrast well with the colours on the front page meaning that it will be eye catching and draw the audiences eye to it easily.

This image above is the image I'm choosing to use for my main image on my double page spread. This image Will be perfect use for the main image. The members of the band are set out in a good pose, following the theme of the serious and sexy images portrayed through all members of the band. The shot length being a more medium shot works well and the slight low angle of the camera allows the feeling of power and confidence to be portrayed through the image to the audience. The setting for this image is also perfect, it is a situated in Camden town down the market area. This setting portrays the rock / indie vibe we are going for in the magazine. There should be no issue in editing this image as its in good condition to be used as it is the lighting contrasting light and dark tones all work well together.

This image is another that i shall be using for my double page spread. This is again taken from the setting of Camden town something which alot of readers will relate to. The colours and image on the background wall are of colours and styles which the audience will find appealing the long shot pose being pulled by the male members is appealing. However there is a problem with the image as the male in the checked shirt has his eyes shut. This ruins the image, however being used as a smaller less main image on the double page it will be un-noticeable to the audience thus the image will still be able to be put to good use.

This image is another image i am choosing to use for one of my smaller images on my double page spread. I believe this image will be a good one to use, its a medium long shot capturing all the people in the picture, and surrounding scenery, showing it is again situated within Camden town something of which will appeal to the audience. The colours on the car they are resting on are very rock / indie vibecolours which will appeal to the audience. There is a problem with this image as it doesn't have one member of the band in the picture. This could cause a problem as it could be perceived as misrepresenting the band, however when being one of the smaller images it shouldn't cause to much confusion to the audience and should be okay.

This will be the final image i will use on my double page spread. This image will be perfect, a medium / long shot of the whole band works well. With the sexy / serious images still being portrayed through the image and all members of the band pulling a suitable pose it will work well. The image will need cropping slightly to remove the hand rail and part of the brick wall. This can be easily done however. This image will again be being use don the contents page to make reference between the contents and the double page spread.

This image will be being used on my contents page. This image will work perfectly with the male being dressed in a band 't shirt', the top of a beer within the picture and a rock symbol being posed by the male it follows all conventions we would expect to see being portrayed. This image will work well and will be used for the contents page.

This image is another that i shall be using on my contents page. This medium / Long shot of the male will be of suitable use for the contents page. The hair style and pose are typical of the rock vibe. The top being worn my the male will also appeal to the audience.

This image will again be being used for the contents page. This one will work very well. The slight low angle of the pictures give the male a feeling of importance and power on the scenario while him setting something alight is a typical rock, rebel thing to to which will draw the audience to the page. The clothing is all of a hard rock genre and again will appeal to the audience.

initial ideas and analysis - Double Page spread

Layout page one is a is a Good style layout, this consists of 6 separate interview boxes to ideally be aimed a question each at each band member and one to the group in general, they will be in the main image to the right hand side of the page, there will be the same colour format of blue, black white and grey as there is following all the other designs to produce a house style between the pages, a collection of 3 more pictures down the lower central line of the page with some artistic element s and quotes will provide a good clear structured layout of the page. However this form of layout will mean that there cant be alot of writing produced when doing it this way.

Layout two is again of a good simplistic layout, with a large picture in the middle and 6 interview boxes scattered around it, it can really be very effective, it is a clearly structured layout and with a couple more pictures dotted around the bottom, this layout can be a very appealing layout to the audience. Its downside will be that as the writing box formats will be produced in a slanting format this will be unappealing to the reader as it will make the article slightly harder to read. Moving these text boxes to make them straight them makes the page feel too formal and unappealing to the audience.

Layout three is of a good layout too with the mast head of the page going diagonally across the top left hand corner, the main picture dominating the right hand side with pictures travelling down the left hand half of the page and pictures along the bottom this is a appealing layout. Its major fault is where the writing will be positioned, this is because it will go across the middle crease of the page meaning that some of the writing may be difficult to read, in this layout the writing section looks like it can be cramp and uncomfortably small for the audience to read. Because of this this would be a unsuccessful layout.

Analyzing my Chosen layout

After analysing the 3 layouts i have chosen design layout one to be my chosen layout. When completing a more detailed sketch of this including the colour scheme being implemented it is clear to see that this will be a successful layout. The interview boxes and pictures appear to be laid out well in a structured format, because of this i believe this page will be a success as it has all the right elements.

initial ideas and analysis - Contents page

Layout design 1 of he contents page is set out in a clear and structured manner, the boxes separating the textual work on the page keep a structured order, the pictures going the middle in a collage like formation make the page have a bit more un-organisation and character typical of a music magazine, thus following the rock theme typical genres. However this layout can look bad when developed slightly as the whole page doesn't get spread out enough it can have too much detail on the page most readers do not want to be overloaded with information.

Layout two is of a simple layout which is effective and will give clear details on what will be going on inside and where. However there is no formal structure for this page, this really is alot more simple in most cases this makes it less appealing to the audience as it is too simplistic.

Layout 3 3 i believe has much more potential to work much better, layout 3 has 3 subheadings, the main features, live reviews and News will allow the reader to see at a glace where they want to go view. The plus section also allows the audience to see at a glace areas they wish to view. This layout i believe will be the most successful one and therefore i will do this one in more detail and analyse.

Analysing detailed layout of layout three

This layout when more expanded i believe will be the best layout, i believe this because once i expanded it in more detail using the colours i will be using in my actual magazine you can really see the page of the magazine falling into place, the structured is clearly laid out in a easy to read format whist being organised so the audience can digest the information easily.

initial ideas and analysis - Front page

After studying my 3 initial ideas i have decided the best one will be layout one, here is a brief analysis on all 3 front cover designs.

Looking at the basic layout of layout one it is clear to see that it is already following the basic conventions on a page layout, a bold clear title along the top the barcode in a non obtrusive corner. The main image is that of a typical standard magazine shot, the rest of the page layout when glancing at this basic design is structured clear to read and follows clear conventions

Layout two is of a similar layout to that of layout one however there are some major faults to the page, the long shot of the band has condensed the space available for the rest of the layout of the page, the story box down the side looks out of place along with the banner down the bottom. The barcode along the box where the headline is situated looks out of place and stands out.

Layout three is a unusual layout it again follows the basic layout with the mast head at the top of the page etc, but the main close up of the persons face can make the page look a bit unusual, the pug and the story box look out of place while the headline cutting across the bottom of the main image does not work as the expression on the face. The whole layout of the page will just not work for these reasons.

I have decided to create a slightly more developed version of layout one and analyse it, this will then be my basic structure for the front page.

Analysis of a more developed layout

The front page layout is very appealing to the audience, this is because the basic layout follows alot of typical magazine front page layouts. The layout of this page is very similar to that of rocksound which i analysed earlier on in the blog. The image used will be that of a medium shot, this works well as it will portray the general fashion trend of the brand, promoting through their style the sort of music they will be representing. This type of shot still allows us to view the emotions being portrays through their faces and making them easily identifiable to the audience. The plus section also allows a taster to the audience of what else we can find within the magazine, while the barcode in the bottom left corner can remain unobtrusive to the audience with the 3 free posters along the bottom of the layout will draw the audience into looking at the poster.

Initials ideas

Colour scheme



Looking above i have several different colour scheme options for my pages. These would be the basic colours i would use as a house style across all the pages. The Black and purple, black and aqua i have deemed to be unsuitable due to the fact that they are more girly colours. To appeal to my target audience they need to be of a colour scheme that will appeal more to the male market than they female as my target audience will be mostly males. The black and yellow, Black and white and black and dark green are eye catching yet i don't feel will be suitable due to the nature of the magazine. Because of the music genre i have and the target audience i am aiming for a believe a Bright electric blue and black colour scheme will be best as it will connote the best message through to the audience about the magazine.

Font ideas

Here is a collection of different font types i gathered off the Internet site Dafonts.com, this website is a font generator website. To find the various fonts i have gathered i typed in key words into the search facilities which relate to my magazine. These were such as 'Indie' 'Rock' 'Punk' and 'Metal' . After doing this i selected several different fonts, some from each key word search. I then presented this information to a group of people are my target audience age range. After looking at them many ruled out the 'Rocket' and 'Hardrock' style instantly stating of how they were difficult to read thus not really very appealing to them. Most also said they had the same problem with the 'Metal lord' font. The rest of the fonts were all generally liked reasonably equally by the interviewees. However many voted to choose between the 'Indie Komiks sketch' and the 'indie star' font would be best as they were more linked to the music genre of the magazine and were of a relaxed and trendy font style. Upon a vote between them two style, the 'Indie komiks sketch' font received the most votes thus i am using this as it is obviously the one that will generally appeal more to my chosen target audience than anything else.

Questionnaire Results

Looking at my questionnaire results i have found some interesting and predictable discoveries.

Analyzing question one 'Are you main or female?' It is apparent that the majority of the audience are males at a ratio of 18-13. This is what i expected, being a rock genre magazine typically you would expect more boys than girls to be interested as the interest in music will vary between the two with males into the more hardcore genre and females preferring more love story like music.

Looking at the answers to question two 'How old are you?' The majority of people who answered my questionnaire are between the age of 17 and 19 which is perfect as it will give me the best reflection of the ideas for my magazine specifically from my target audience age range.

My third question 'How often to you buy a magazine' Most people with a vote of 17 answered rarely just when you fancy something to read briefly. This could cause a problem for me as is the majority of my Target audience are thinking like this my magazine is going to have to follow conventions well whist at the same time standing out totally from other magazines on the market to appeal to the audience strongly enough to make them part with their money.

My Fourth Question is 'What do you buy magazines for?' To which the majority of answers was for the articles, because of this i know it is going to be important to make sure i have a big sounding story on the front cover to really draw the audiences attention to it and encourage them to buy it even more.

The next question asked how much the audience was willing to pay, as i expected it was £2 being the most popular votes, referring to Maslows theory of Hi and the Status of students on the economic level it was iportant to know the price they are willing to pay in order to price the magazine at the most profitable and affordable price range.

When i asked people 'What suit of music genre magazine appeals to you?' There was a even split with 16 votes each on the Rock and Indie genre, this tells me what the majority of people looking to purchase my magazine are going to be interested in, this is critical for me so that i can get the balance between the rock and indie pull factors just right to supplement both tastes.

Asked my audience Would you prefer a music magazine covering the general area of a music genre or a specific section of that area? E.g rock magazine covering heavy rock, indie etc, or a rock magazine focusing specifically on the heavy rock section? From this i had a 19 - 10 vote on the choice of having a general selection of music from that genre as a whole, as i had such a diverse set of results from the what music genre do people prefer this have worked out very well for me as i will be able to advertise a produce magazine stories on a wide range of music tastes while still focused slightly more around rock and indie, this allowed me to engaged a wider audience range and make my magazine more successful

In my final question where i asked my audience 'Which music magazine name to you prefer the most' I received the most votes on Rockscene, because of this i can clearly see this is obviously the most appealing to the audience and have therefore chose this to be my title.