Evaluation - Question 7

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

Evaluation - Question 6

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

During the construction of my music magazine, I came across six different pieces of software and technology that I have never used before. The first piece of technology that I had to use to be able to create my music magazine pages was Adobe InDesign.

Adobe InDesign was the main software that allowed me to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread professionally. Before creating my music magazine pages, I had some practice of using this software through the development of my preliminary task, which was to create a school magazine. I found it very difficult to get use to using this software when I firstly started my preliminary task seen as this piece of technology has many different tools that I have never used before. After developing my preliminary task I felt more confident when using this software, the preliminary task allowed me to believe that by the time that I came to developing my music magazine I would be able to use this software correctly and proficiently. Eventually I felt that this software was easy to use and therefore was very useful during the time that I spent creating my music magazine. I believe that my music magazine wouldn't have been as good if I had not got to grips with this piece of technology.

Before starting my preliminary task I had also never used Blogger. Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows you to track your work step by step, I tried to blog regularly about what decisions or changes I had made during the development of my preliminary task but mostly during the time that I spent creating my music magazine. I found that blogger was very easy to use, it allowed me to present my work in a sophisticated way. On my blogger account I uploaded drawn drafts of my magazine pages, drafts of my developed pages by saving them as a JPEG on my memory stick, image options, primary and secondary research on music magazines and information about my target audience.

I used a digital camera to capture my images for my magazine pages, instead of using another type of camera, so that I was able to produce images that had better quality which made my images look more professional. Also I felt that using a digital camera was beneficial as it provides a flash, which I used when taking some images inside where there wasn't much natural lighting. This piece of technology was an exception as I had already used a digital camera before my magazine pages.

 Photoshop is an image-editing software that allows you to alter a digital photographic image. During the development of my magazine pages I didn't use this software much, I only used Photoshop for my main image of the band 'Rage City' on the front cover of my music magazine, by removing the background of this image. I removed the background of this image by using the background eraser tool. Even though I only used one function of this software, which was the eraser tool, I still found Photoshop quite easy to use. It didn't take me too long to get used to how it worked it was pretty straight forward, although it did take quite a long time to use as removing the background was time consuming.

PowerPoint is a software package that is designed to create electronic presentations which consists of a series of separate pages or slides. PowerPoint was also a software that I had already used before, just like the use of the digital camera.  During the development of my magazine pages I used this software a few times to be able to present my progress in PowerPoint form on my blog, I did this by uploading my PowerPoint through my slide share account. I used PowerPoint specifically to present my target audience questionnaire, my target audience focus group results which related to my masthead options, my music magazines contents page draft and whilst answering question five in my evaluation. I believe that PowerPoint presentation is very useful as it allows my blog to look more appealing as it is a different way of posting my updated progress other than just using plain tradition blog posts.

Prezi is an online application, just like slide share. Prezi is another way of showing your work instead of using traditional blog posts, it allows you to make your blog look more appealing. It has a similar purpose to PowerPoint seen as it is an alternative way of creating a presentation. During the development of my preliminary task, I was firstly introduced to this online application. I found Prezi quick and easy to use, it wasn't hard to understand. Prezi's creative template designs allow my blog to look more attractive as it allows my written content to be displayed in a more appealing visual format.


During the development of my magazine pages, the internet has helped me dramatically with my work. Similarly to Adobe InDesign, the internet has been the main foundation of  my music magazine progress. I wouldn't have been able to carry out a lot of the tasks without the internet because I wouldn't have been able to access blogger, prezi, and slideshare. Also the internet has provided me with beneficial secondary music magazine research which helped me during my decision making process.

Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience? from elliereedx

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation - Question 3

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

If my music magazine Pitch was a genuine media product, I would definitely use Bauer Media to publish my magazine. My main personal reason for choosing this kind of media institution to distribute my media product would be that it is the main publisher of Kerrang, which is the music magazine that I used to base the development of my magazine pages on. Also I would choose Bauer to publish my magazine seen as I have already included a few of kerrang's techniques to my music magazine Pitch, to attract my target audience effectively.

Despite my personal reasons, I would choose Bauer Media to publish my magazine for the obvious reasons such as the fact that I would want my magazine 'Pitch' to be a part of one of  the biggest publishing groups in Europe. Bauer media is seen as one of the biggest publishing groups because they have grown to become a global media empire, owning 80 brands and 230 magazines in 15 different countries which serve approximately 19,000,000 people. They also have a massive audience and statistically 4 out of 10 people experience one of their products, which could be from brands such as Kerrang and Q magazines. According to this I believe that choosing Bauer Media to publish my music magazine Pitch would be highly beneficial seen as the global acknowledgement of their existence and therefore their global success, could help my product grow   increasingly even further with their support. Choosing Bauer would also increase the chances of my media product being successful seen as it is a global media institution  that knows exactly what they're doing in the magazine industry, therefore they would be a trust worthy publisher for my magazine.

Bauer Media also publicises their products with cross-media platforms such as the Internet, Television and Radio. This would help to support my media product even further by increasing it's popularity and by gaining global recognition through advertisement of these platforms. Also I have decided to choose Bauer Media to publish my music magazine because it is evidently reliable seen as most successful and recognisable music magazines are published by Bauer, therefore I felt that it would be extremely difficult to trust any other media institution to publish my magazine. Even though there are other existing publishing groups such as IPC media that could help publish my media product, I believe that Bauer would be more beneficial as it would reliably push my media product to its full potential and also would possibly attract my music magazine 'Pitch' to a complete new target audience to create a global fan base for my product.

Bauer owns 80 brands that are all distributed by Frontline. Frontline was formed by Emap in 1986 to handle their demands of an expansion in their circulation, but frontline now distributes Bauer Media products since Bauer took over Emap publications in 2008. If my music magazine Pitch was a genuine media product, I would want the biggest magazine distributor in the UK to distribute my magazine. Frontline is the biggest distributor in the UK because it sells and distributes over 160 magazine titles, including 54 of the top 200 selling titles in the UK. Frontline distributes media products from brands such as Kerrang and Q magazines which are seen as successful magazines. Seen as Frontline is the biggest magazine distributor in the UK, therefore the most successful, I have decided to distribute my magazine 'Pitch' through Frontline.

Evaluation - Question 2



How does the Media Product represent a particular social group?

 

When I created my target audience profile I decided that my music magazine 'Pitch' would be targeted towards teenagers who are predominantly males, seen as when I carried out my primary research, through the method of a questionnaire, males were more keen to take part in my research. This made me come to a conclusion that males are more interested in music magazines than females, my questionnaire results show that 60% of males are interested in music magazines whereas only 40% of females are. But regardless of whether they're males or females, I decided to target my music magazine 'Pitch' towards teenage students who are into the genre of rock because of this I decided to base the pages of Pitch on the real music magazine Kerrang! because it shares the same target audience as mine. I also decided to base my pages on Kerrang! because my results from my questionnaire state that 50% of the public would read the music magazine Kerrang! which evidently shows that my target audience prefer the style of this specific rock magazine in comparison to other existing music magazines. The main aim of my music magazine was to appeal to a certain social group (teenagers and mostly males). I believe that my completed product has achieved this in a variety of ways.

 

The front cover of Pitch was designed specifically to appeal to my target audience, I tried to do this effectively in a similar way that Kerrang! does. Kerrang's front cover is seen as informal and is sometimes described as having a 'cluttered layout' it is in contrast to Q's clean cut structure. Kerrang! is quite focused but still has a laid back teenage feel about the music magazine, the artists and the bands featured in the magazine are usually from the genre of rock or punk rock. This is the same direction that I wanted my music magazine 'Pitch' to aim for, but I decided to stick to the complete genre of rock instead of aiming for the punk aspect of this genre. I also decided not to have a dark coloured front cover like some Kerrang! issues such as the one placed below, instead I just decided to keep to the same colour scheme.

I modelled Pitch's front cover on this issue of Kerrang! because I felt that it was one specific issue of kerrang! that wasn't over-detailed. I decided to create the layout of my front cover based on this existing kerrang! magazine. I liked the layout of this kerrang! issue in comparison to other music magazines because I felt that it looked professional, keeping to the forms and conventions of a real media product but also had an edgy relaxed feel to the music magazine for example I felt that the free poster special made the magazine look more attractive as it tries to entice my target audience in by the use of subsidiary images of bands included in the magazine instead of cramming the page with sell lines, which some readers may feel is overwhelming and off putting as it doesn't straight forwardly state who's in the magazine. I also included the free poster special as this feature would definitely appeal to some people who are heavily influenced by music, and are a fan of rock music; which leads to the stereotype of rock fans having posters all over their bedroom walls. I chose this issue as it conveyed a professional look, it has a specific layout showing that it follows a structured plan and lastly it keeps to the specific genre of rock, which my target audience are interested in. Over all I believe that this style of magazine would attract my target audience as it appears to be inviting and eye-catching. The pose of the band makes them look dominant and intimidating, showing that they mean business. I wanted my image to achieve the same effect as this by using an image of the boys that makes them look rebellious, ambitious and mysterious but also with a mellow non-aggressive feel to there presence.

 

I eventually chose this image to be displayed as the main image for Pitch's front cover. I decided to use this image of the band because I believe that it represents their age and their social group effectively through their gaze, body language and their costumes which also still relates to the genre of the magazine. The three band members in the photograph are males within my target audience age range. As my questionnaire results show, my target audience favour a male group. I have also tried to use similar clothing to other bands modelled on the front cover of music magazines which share the same genre as mine (e.g kerrang, NME), I did this so that the band 'Rage City' represent the same fashion style that fits with the audiences preferences. This image helps to relate the band 'Rage City' to the audience and their social group, showing that the magazine understands them, which allows the audience to trust the magazine, therefore sale figures will increase.

 

 

In the article the best representational aspects can be seen from the main image on the double page spread, but also from the textual content. For example, the image portrays ambition and dominance. I chose this image of the band 'Rage City' because I liked the fact that the three band members all stared straight at the camera having the 'gaze' that all rock bands have in the photos included in conventional music magazines. I also liked the edgy urban feel of the background making the band members look dominant which fits in with the genre of rock. Also I chose this image as the band members have strong eye contact with the target audience through their gaze, which allows the audience to feel connected to the band and their story line. This allows the particular social group that are being presented (the target audience) to feel like they understand the band 'Rage City' deeply.

For my written article, I decided to keep to the layout of other conventional music magazine articles. Therefore I made sure that I included details such as credits; stating the name of the journalist and of the photographer, pull quotes, drop caps, an image of the band on one whole page of the double page spread, the colour scheme of the magazine as a whole, conventional language such as "exclusively" or "subscribe", page numbers and lastly web site details so that my music magazine 'Pitch' is able to attract its target audience, who are technophile. Also I included a web address to portray that this brand has multi-media platforms. All these specific details allow the music magazine 'Pitch' to be presented as professional seen as it follows the forms and conventions of a real media product and it also allows my music magazine to appeal to its target social group.

In the contents page the best representational aspects can be seen through its images again. The band members clothing represent the same fashion style that fits with the audiences preferences. I have also kept the same band members for the cover page, contents page and the article, to portray how the pages inside the music magazine 'Pitch' link together. I also decided to use the same band members in the images shown throughout the magazine so that it helps my targeted social group to make a connection between these  pieces of content and it also allows them to develop a connection with the band. I decided to include female artists and female band members in my subsidiary images on my contents page so that my music magazine 'Pitch' also appeals to females. I believe that using a mix of genders, makes my music magazine appealing to both males and females.

Similarly to my article, my contents page has specific details that many existing music magazines have, such as having conventional headings and page numbers allowing my target audience to have knowledge of where to find certain artists/bands/articles.

Evaluation - Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? Front Cover Contents Page Double Page Spread

Finished Contents Page for my School Magazine:



 

Written Article: final draft

Dreams becoming reality

The success of new UK rock band Rage City has roared its way through 2013. One year on from their tour of universities throughout the UK rock band, Rage City’s lead vocalist Josh meets up with Pitch, at a coffee shop in his hometown of Abergavenny. Here he reveals his feelings about the up and coming UK tour!

Josh explains how 2013 was an amazing year playing at gigs throughout the UK universities, but how the 2014 tour has gone even one step further. “I can’t stop smiling, my life at the moment is just awesome” he tells me. Going on to talk about the bigger venues of the 2014 tour, Josh states that the gig at Cardiff St David’s Hall has actually sold out! You can just tell by his confident body language that he is just buzzing with excitement. Rage City is also playing at 10 other venues including the amazing Academy 3 in Manchester. The band is overwhelmed with the thought of playing at these larger venues, in the past Josh explains that they have only played large towns in old cinemas which are often home to amateur dramatics societies, so the venues in this year’s tour are “mind blowing” for the group.

Josh reveals how he and the other two band mates feel about performing at these larger venues. “We are all bricking it to be honest, but so excited as well.” This must be a huge step for this young band, playing at venues that they’d always dreamed of and probably never in their wildest dreams did they think it would actually happen! Josh reveals how he and his fellow band members cannot wait to perform and start the tour. He also continues to say how they are grabbing every opportunity they can to perform on local radio’s and even on BBC’s One Show. “It probably won’t last, we’re just going to enjoy the ride” he light-heartedly reveals. Rage City has kept their ticket prices low so their fans, which usually range from 16 to 20 years old, can afford to attend the tour. They’ve done this by keeping the stage set low key with just the band and lighting at its minimum. The boys feel that people want to see them and hear their music and not see some big stage production.

Josh is sat in the coffee shop in ripped jeans, a t-shirt, vans and a massive smile looking just like any other normal 18 year old. I wondered if the band get recognised much doing normal everyday things, apart from in their hometown where they are very much part of the community and not really treated like the celebrities they’ve become. Josh remembers an incident of when himself and the other two band mates were in Cardiff McDonalds “it was just before Christmas, when about ten 18 year old drunken girls, who seemed to be on some sort of Christmas celebration started screaming our names and asking for photographs.” He tells me how surreal it felt especially when they were all very hangover from a Black Friday night out and “a mouth full of Big Mac.” Josh tells Pitch what an amazing feeling it was that Rage City were recognised and had girls actually wanting autographs and screaming their names.
The band has been greatly influenced by Green Day and Blink 182. Josh tells me how the band have constantly listened to this style of music in their early teens and look at Green Day as amazing role models for both their performance and lyrical style.
Rage City often describes the feelings and obstacles of young teenagers in today’s society in their lyrics. They also sing about strong family bond and community spirit in a lot of their tracks, showing how grounded the boys really are.

The tour starts next month and Pitch will be in the front row. We would strongly recommend everyone to attend one of these gigs and purchase a ticket; it’s going to be awesome. We can just hear the sheer enthusiasm in Josh’s voice when he tells us how he and the band just cannot wait to perform in front of crowds of enthusiastic fans, who have just come to listen to Rage City. Josh tells me how he and the other two band members cannot believe that after years of practising in an attic conversion, this is really happening to them “were all enjoying every second of this awesome time in our lives” he tells me. What a story to tell their grandchildren!

 

 

Written Article: 2nd draft

Dreams becoming reality

The success of new UK rock band Rage City has roared its way through 2013. One year on from their tour of universities throughout the UK rock band, Rage City’s lead vocalist Josh meets with me, at a coffee shop in his hometown of Abergavenny. Here he reveals his feelings about the up and coming UK tour!

Josh tells me how 2013 was an amazing year playing at gigs throughout the UK universities, but how the 2014 tour has gone even one step further. “I can’t stop smiling, my life at the moment is just awesome” he tells me. Going on to talk about the bigger venues of the 2014 tour, Josh informs me that the gig at Cardiff St David’s Hall has actually sold out! You can just tell by his confident body language that he is just buzzing with excitement. Rage City is also playing at 10 other venues including the amazing academy 3 in Manchester. The band is over whelmed with the thought of playing at these larger venues, in the past Josh told me that they have only played large towns in old cinemas which are often home to amateur dramatics societies, so the venues in this year’s tour are “mind blowing” for the group.

Josh reveals how he and the other two band mates feel about performing at these larger venues. “We are all bricking it to be honest, but so excited as well.” This must be a huge step for this young band, playing at venues that they’d always dreamed of and probably never in their wildest dreams did they think it would actually take place! Josh tells me how he and his fellow band members cannot wait to perform and start the tour. He also continues to say how they are grabbing every opportunity they can to perform on local radio’s and even on BBC’s One Show. “It probably won’t last, we’re just going to enjoy the ride” he light-heartedly reveals. Rage City has kept their ticket prices low so their fans which usually range from 16 to 20 years old, can afford to attend the tour. They’ve done this by keeping the stage set low key with just the band and lighting at its minimum. The boys feel that people want to see them and hear their music and not see some big stage production.

Josh is sat in the coffee shop in ripped jeans, a t-shirt, vans and a massive smile just looking like any other normal 18 year old. I wondered if the band get recognised much doing normal everyday things, apart from in their hometown where they are very much part of the community and not really treated like the celebrities they’ve become. Josh tells me a story of when himself and the other two band mates were in Cardiff McDonalds just before Christmas, when about ten 18 year old drunken girls, who seemed to be on some sort of Christmas celebration started screaming their names and asking for photographs. He tells me how surreal it felt especially when they were all very hangover from a Black Friday night out and “a mouth full of Big Mac.” Josh tells me what an amazing feeling it was that Rage City were recognised and had girls actually wanting autographs and screaming their names.

The band has been greatly influenced by Green Day and Blink 182. Josh tells me how him and the lads have constantly listened to these bands music in their early teens and look at Green Day as amazing role models for both their performance and lyrical style.

Rage City often describes the feelings and obstacles of young teenagers in today’s society in their lyrics. They also sing about strong family bond and community spirit in a lot of their tracks, showing how grounded the boys really are.

The tour starts next month and I for one will definitely be attending. I would strongly recommend everyone to attend one of these gigs and purchase a ticket; it’s going to be awesome. I can just see the sheer enthusiasm in Josh’s voice when he tells me how he and the band just cannot wait to perform in front of crowds of enthusiastic fans, who have just come to listen to Rage City. Josh tells me how he and the other two band members cannot believe that after years of practising in an attic conversion, this is really happening to them “were all enjoying every second of this awesome time in our lives” he tells me. What a story to tell their grandchildren!

 



Written Article: 1st draft

One year on from their tour of universities throughout the UK rock band Rage City’s lead vocalist Josh reveals his feelings about 2014.

“2013 was an amazing year playing at gigs throughout the UK’s universities but our 2014 tour has gone one step further!” Josh reveals “I can’t stop smiling; my life at the moment is just awesome. We’ve got some amazing venues on our 2014 tour, I can’t believe we’re actually playing at St David’s Hall in Cardiff and it’s sold out, we’re all just buzzing with excitement. We have 10 other venues including BIC in Bournemouth and the amazing Academy 3 in Manchester, what a result. We usually play in large towns in old cinemas etc which are often home to amateur dramatics societies, so the venues for this year are mind blowing!”

I asked Josh how he and the other two band members feel about performing at these larger venues “we are all bricking it to be honest but so excited as well. It’s what we’ve all always dreamed of and didn’t in our wildest dreams think it would come true! We’re just buzzing and can’t wait to perform. It probably won’t last haha but we’re just going to enjoy the ride. The stage set is really low key with just us and the lighting at its minimum, I mean people want to see our good looking faces and hear our music what more would they want? Ha ...but seriously we’ve done this so we can keep ticket prices low so our fans, which usually range from 16 to 20 years old, can afford to come to our gigs.”

“Do you get recognised much when you’re out and about doing normal everyday things?” I went on to ask Josh who was sat quite comfortably in my office in ripped jeans, a t-shirt and vans and with a massive smile.

“Omg we we’re in McDonalds in Cardiff just before Christmas when about ten 18 year old drunken girls, who seemed to be on some sort of Christmas celebration, started screaming our names and asking for pictures of us, it was surreal to be honest especially when you are hangover from a very drunken Black Friday night out and you’ve got a mouth full of a Big Mac!” Josh admits he enjoyed this feeling going on to say “But it was an amazing feeling to think us Rage City was recognised and actually had girls wanting our pictures, it was ace to be honest especially when some were quite fit...sorry should I not say that?” Josh laughs. “But seriously we all can’t wait to just go out on stage and perform in front of a load of people who have just come to listen to our music. It’s just the best feeling ever. This doesn’t happen to three boys from Abergavenny who started practising in our attic conversion, but ha it has and we’re all enjoying every second of this awesome time in our lives...what a story to tell our grand kids eh?”

 

 



Front Cover InDesign Draft: 5

This is my front cover so close to being finished. I have added two subsidiary images to my front cover, which are two examples of the posters that will be included in the 'free poster special' that is imbedded in the magazine. I have also decided to rotate my pug so that it isn't slanted to the right, I have done this as I believe it makes the front cover look similar to a professional magazine with a conventional pug, although they are normally in the corner of the page, most of the time they are straight and are not slanted.



Front Cover InDesign Draft: 4

 

I decided to add a new sell line (that wasn't drawn on my original draft) on the right hand side of the page, underneath the existing sell line as there was too much empty space on the front cover. I made sure that the new sell line matched the same style as the other two, so I decided to use red and black font, to match the colour scheme of the front cover and the existing sell lines. I decided to keep the heading of the new sell line red (just like the other two sell lines) to emphasise the importance of the "exclusive news" being revealed and also so that it stands out in comparison to the black writing underneath. I decided to make the font of the bands name "Arctic Monkeys" bold so that the reader is able to identify immediately which band the sell is about, I also decided to use a different font to the rest of the sell line for the bands name, which was copperplate gothic bold, so that their name over powered the rest of the sell line. The rest of the sell line was in a smaller font as this information is already included in the magazine, as its just a quick leak of the story to help entice the reader in. I also decided to make the font smaller so that the sell line was able to fit on the white background and so that it didn't overlap on to the main image of the band. I decided to reveal in the new sell line that the band "Arctic Monkeys" were headling in Reading and Leeds Festival in 2014 as it is from real life updates of the festival, and not news artificially created by myself. I did this so that the magazine 'Pitch' seems as real as it could possibly be.

Front Cover InDesign Draft: 3

This is the further construction of my front cover. I have decided to move the positioning of my pug to the bottom right hand corner of the front cover (instead of the top right hand corner) so that there is enough room to add my sell lines at the top of the page. I have decided to increase the size of my pull quote so that the audience recognise that the story line is included in the same interview as the band 'Rage City' which is my splash. Therefore the audience realise that the splash and pull quote go together. I have also decided to change the colour of my pull quote to white so that it stands out on top of the picture of the band, seen as the black blended into the background and it was hard to make out what the pull quote said.  Lastly I added two sell lines, which had red and black coloured font, to match the colour scheme of the front cover. I decided to make the headings red so that they stood out dramatically compared to the black writing and I also decided to use two different font styles embedded into the sell lines so that certain words stood out over the rest. I also decided to use different font sizes so that I was able to emphasise certain words such as "survive" which made the sell lines seem more dramatic and exciting, which helped to entice the reader in. I also decided to move one sell line over to the left hand side of the page near to the band, so that there was enough room to fit another sell line on the right hand side, but this wasn't planned on my original drawn draft of my front cover.

Front Cover InDesign Draft: 2

 

This is my further development on my music magazine. I started to work on my masthead, I decided to use the font Copperplate Gothic Bold (the same as my splash) as I felt that it looked more smart to keep the same font style for my splash and masthead as they then don't over power one another, they both equally entice the reader in. Also I chose this font as it matched my draft design. I decided to use the colour black for my masthead because I felt that it stood out immediately against the white background and in comparison to the other light/bright colours present on the front cover. I thought that it was vital to make my masthead stand out from the rest of the cover page, as the mast head is considered the most important feature on a music magazine, as it promotes the brand and the audience use the masthead to reference the magazine. I decided to underline the masthead and put a line above the masthead (in black so that its sophisticated and matches its lettering) so that it works as almost a highlighting feature for the magazine, so that the masthead stands out and the audience recognise the importance of the masthead, therefore identifying the brand 'Pitch'. I also decided to centre my splash as I felt that if the masthead was in the centre of the front cover exactly, it would catch the readers attention immediately so that they could identify whether they had heard of the main artist featured in the magazine or not. The mastheads positioning will therefore catch peoples attention and will help to encourage them to want to buy the magazine to find out more about the band, due to the fact its important enough to be centred in the middle of the front cover. People will be intrigued by the band regardless of whether they are a fan. I decided to add a pug in the top right hand corner of the page to help advertise the gig guide present inside the magazine, this way people will be encouraged to buy the magazine if they are a fan of gigs or are interested in attending the up coming gigs that are suggested by the magazine 'Pitch'. I have added two boxes above my footer line ready to place my subsidiary images in, which are two samples of the posters included in the 'free poster special' included in the magazine. Lastly I have also added a barcode to my front cover, to make the magazine seem like a realistic, professional magazine that exists on sale to the public. I have attempted to make the barcode a size that a conventional existing magazine such as Q or Kerrang would include on their magazine. My research shows that the barcode and the price would be displayed in a variety of positions on a cover page.

Front Cover InDesign Draft: 1

 





I have started my front cover of my music magazine. I have decided to use this photo of the band 'Rage City' because I believe that it creates an appropriate representation of the band and reflects a positive image for the magazine, evidently showing the audience the magazines genre of music present due to the rebellious pose of the band. Also I decided to use this photo as I wanted to make sure there was 'the gaze', to keep to the codes and conventions of a magazine. I decided to keep the background of my front cover white with a grey gradient at 90 degrees so that it gave the magazine a professional feel and made the front cover look fresh, as it allowed different colours of text to stand out on the page, against the background. Also I felt that the background would be complimentary to the primary colours; red, yellow, black and white. I then used the feathering tool to blend the image in with the background around the edges, so that it didn't look too harsh. I then added a header bar and footer line to my front cover because it then gave me an idea of how big I wanted my main image to be on the page. I decided to include a header bar and footer line on my front cover as I felt that it was a quick and simple way to catch the readers eye and let them know some of the competitions and artists included in the magazine this way the reader would decided whether this style of magazine is for them. The header bar and footer line help entice the reader in by identifying the acts present in the magazine 'Pitch'. I also started to work on my splash, I decided to use the font Copperplate Gothic Bold because it was so similar to the font that I originally wanted my splash to be in when I drew my draft design of my front cover. Also I decided to make the splash bold as I felt that it was the most important part of my magazine as we want the band to gain fans and we want their already existing fans to buy the magazine to read about them so that we then get more customers and therefore profit. Also by using a bold font it allows the magazine to entice the reader to buy the magazine.
 

Photo Shoot for my Music Magazine

Magazine Image Planning Document

Shoot date and time: 6th of February 2014

Image Description: Medium shot of the band 'Rage City' looking into the camera whilst they are positioned with the main singer josh at the front of the shot with the two other band members positioned behind him.

Shoot location: On the school premises, the photo is taken in front of a plain white wall in the hall way.

Model/person contact Details: My model's are peers within my class, I chose to take my front cover photo of these three boys due to the fact they are within my target audience age range.

Permission Details: Yes, my model gave full permission for the photos to be taken and used.
Props: I used a plain white wall as my background (previously stated in my image description), the costumes/clothing for my models (which helped to create the image of a rock band).

Plan of Shots: I modelled most of my photographs on magazine poses, I have taken ideas from some existing music magazines images of individual artists poses and have put them together as a group image (of the three members of Rage City), for example one boy modelled a pose I found in one magazine that I felt would be effective and fit the genre of my music magazine (rock) and the two other boys modelled different poses from different pictures/magazines that I felt would fit together for the whole pose of the band 'Rage City'. Though some of my photographs was taken just from my own ideas of effective poses and were taken on initiative. The basic idea was to create a variety of shots of the band "Rage City" that my target audience would be able to relate to in some ways (e.g being young, fun and rebellious). My over all aim was to use effective shots that would make my target audience want to buy the magazine and read the contents of the magazine, which would generate profit. The initial plan was to take a few photos of the band with a variety of angles to choose from so then I would be able to narrow down my optional front cover photo and choose the one that I felt would be most effective.

These are my initial photographs that I thought would be appropriate to use on the front cover of my music magazine, due to the fact these images represent the 'style' of my target audience which means that the image fits the genre and style of my music magazine. The three members of the band 'Rage City' on the front cover are within the range of my target audience's age. I have also used similar clothing to other models featured on the front cover of magazines with the same genre of music (rock), such as magazines like Kerrang, NME, Q etc. I have kept similarities between my music magazine 'Pitch' and magazines like 'Kerrang' because they share the same genre of music and already establish the audience's preferences. I decided to almost clone some poses of rock bands on the front cover of music magazine because I felt that they would be effective for my new released music magazine. I tried to re-enact the pose of 'Biffy Clyro', with the main singer touching his beard at the front with the two other members of the band behind either shoulder, all with serious faces but decided that this wasn't the image that I was going for due to the fact 'Rage City' is a fresh, new band that has only just made it big so I wanted to make a positive first impression of the band.

 

 

 

I decided to use this photo as my front cover image because I felt that it gives the best representation of the band and it allowed the audience to get a first impression of the band 'Rage City'. Also I decided to use this photo due to the fact it had the best quality out of all my potential images and had the right positioning of the band (e.g the main singer at the front wasn't blocking the view of the two other band members also all their arms were fitted in the shot correctly). I decided to put these three individual poses of the boys together because I felt that they gave the audience the impression that the band 'Rage City' are rebellious and serious about their future and are prepared to stop anyone coming between their chances of success. But I also decided to mix these three poses together as I felt that they mellow one another out, so that the boys don't look too aggressive and serious but they are still represented as being rebellious, young and enticing to the target audience of their age group. I also decided to use this image of the band as they evidently portray a similar representation of my target audience.

 

Music Magazine: Contents Page Draft

First draft of my contents page for my from elliereedx

Music Magazine: Front Cover Draft

Target Audience: Focus Group Results

Focus group masthead results from elliereedx

Masthead Options For My Music Magazine

In order to decide the masthead for my music magazine I had to carry out primary research in order to gain results from the public on the basis of what masthead they prefered. I decided to carry out a focus group due to the fact I didn't involve masthead options in one of the questions in my questionnaire. A focus group is when a group of people are assembled to participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched. I asked the focus group this question.....

 

 

1. Which of the following masthead's would you prefer to appear on the front cover of a rock magazine?

• Symbol □
• Amplified □
• Pulse □
• Pitch □
• Cable □
• Music Tuner □
• Chord Chart □
• Power Chord □

First Draft: School Magazine Content Page

I have designed a draft contents page for my school magazine, this draft is only rough meaning that it isn't necessarily the end product. This contents page may need some improvements when in the development stage, such as improving the layout and also the images need to be reconsidered more in depth e.g who will be in the photos and where will the photos be taken. I have decided to use the same colour scheme for the contents page that was apparent in the front cover of the school magazine which is red,black, yellow and white. I used these colours as they are the most present colours used in magazines today due to the fact they work well with one another, they allow eachother to stand out. I have decided to use a formal layout which is precise and smart which matches the school approach.

 

I have decided to keep the masthead present in the contents page, so that the reader is always informed of what magazine they are reading so that they can remember the magazine in the future if they thought it was sucessful and want to purchase it again. I have included the issue number of this magazine on the banner due to the fact it needs to be present somewhere in the school magazine. I decided to use capitals for the word "contents" so that it stands out over all other texts on the page so that it gets the readers attention to inform them that it is the contents page which immediately gives the reader an idea about what will be on this page e.g information about specific pages, what is on them and what is rated the best etc. I used these colours on the banner so that they are in contast next to one another so that we evidently recognise that the left hand side is the masthead and the right hand side is the title of this page. Also I decided to use a smaller font for the masthead due to the fact it isn't the main importance of this page it is only a reminder, whereas the word "contents" must be seen immediately for the reader to know what to expect.

 

I have decided to list the page numbers in a column so that it is neat, tidy and is all in one place so that the readers can identify what pages to look at for specific information. I have decided to use a yellow text on a black background for the headings so that each new topic is identified clearly. I have decided to use a white background so that it increases the visibility of the text present so that it is easy for the reader to read it.

I have decided to include an editors letter so that it follows the same format as other magazines, this letter allows the reader to connect to the magazine as a whole.