Completed Cover page, Contents page and Double page spread

Evaluation

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

When researching music magazines there were conventions that were widely used. The magazines all had a title relating to music and if not had text relating to music and the artists. I have disregarded this convention because the magazine will target more than one genre of music and will also focus on the artists and other content, therefore I decided to have a more ambiguous title. It is also because my genre of music has varied since the beginning production of the music genre; a large variety of music will be shown in the magazine.

 All of the magazines had coverlines and taglines to feature the contents of the magazine. Initially I wanted to include taglines however the page became too cluttered and complex and it did not appear aesthetically pleasing.  I did not include any coverlines because I did not want to advertise the contents, I wanted to grab the reader’s attention from the image and the lack of information on the cover.

 Aside from Kerrang not many magazines had multiple images on the front page. I agreed with the convention of having an image but I did not want to advertise much considering it is the first issue. Therefore, the audience is not very large and I wanted to entice people rather than confusing them. I wanted to not Billboard and Vibe have not added bar codes to their cover page. However, I wanted to agree with the simple convention so that it was easily accessible in a shop instead of having to purchase online or look for the bar code.

Neither did I include a covermount because it is a new magazine and it needs to be connected to a global institution for the packaging and distribution. -Virus has separated text in both size and font so that the title can be easily located and to show the importance of the title in comparison to the rest of the text. I decided to use a grungy font to hint at the content of the magazine. Despite the lack of conventions used I used graphics to highlight my bar code, price and issue number.

  

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine projects punks/ grunge styled people to be educated in the surrounding issues such as the social affair of the lack of funding for the NHS. It shows the musically interested people aware of other genres but against music related to partying and showing off materialistic lifestyles. This makes the grunge and punk social group appear to be more sentimental than materialistic as well as being aware about issues separated from a particular genre of music and fashion.

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

I believe -Virus would be distributed by an independent company such as Wolf At Your Door. This is because my magazine is controversial with using non mainstream conventions as well as mentioning views on politics. This would not appeal to such a volume of audience in a small area. For example, NME has more than 30 distributes in London alone whereas -Virus would not be in such demand so it makes sense to use a smaller company. So I would wish for the magazine to be distributed by an independent company (Wolf At Your Door) that is rated on content compared to appeal.

 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience would be aimed at English speaking and reading audiences (would not be distributed in illiterate areas). The audience is young teenagers and adults (this is because age does not detach the reader from the content). They are people that are interested in new mixes of genres preliminary focusing on grunge, punk and rock both in subculture such as music and fashion. All people showed in my magazine were teenage girls therefore the audience are assumed to be in a similar age bracket. However, the neither gender nor age are prevented from reading the magazine.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My magazine has a controversial layout; this will attract people interested in smaller branded magazines. I’m targeting people that buy independent magazines; my magazine should appeal to them with the front cover having a different format. The colour scheme of monochrome against the bright vibrant background is enticing because of the contrast. This is also shown in the simplicity of the cover. The fashion of the featuring new band with the leather jacket and messy hair should also appeal to my audience as they should be associated in some form to that fashion.

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

Before my magazine I had not used Photoshop before. So using it in production showed in my magazines quality. But through tutorials and the new devices I learnt how to layer my text, opaque the layers, to filter images and to sharpen/ soften/ blur lines. This is shown through my second drafts for my cover image where the title is overlapping the image and background. The images are heightened in colour/ stripped. Later drafts showed the title layered on top of the image in transparency and in gradient. The finalized product features the subtraction of the title so that it shows the new device I learnt from the magnetic lasso tool to select parts of the image. Furthermore, the sharpening and darkening of the image. Using Photoshop has helped me create my magazine especially as it is fluent to use and create on (made for making similar products). Using advanced technology made my magazine appear more professional compared to the original drafts which were performed on PowerPoint, which is used to make power points rather than magazine covers.

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

In hindsight of my preliminary tasks I did not understand how to use Photoshop, how the general layout of a magazine was, the language used to show formality and informalities towards the audience. Looking in depth in other magazines has helped me see how professional published magazines use these devices and layout. For example, my case study of retro gamer heavily affected my original layout of my double page spread with multiple images and texts on both pages. However, with further research I developed a more professional layout with a larger amount of text and advertising for all content through lager text and separate fonts as well as background images.

 The preliminary cover page annotation of Clash magazine showed me that I could make the contents more intimate by showing a close up and keeping the style plain and simplistic. Whereas, TIME showed me that using a monochrome filter can be used on a professional magazine.

Creating a school magazine helped me understand how to create a magazine in a detailed brief. Creating my Hampstead School magazine helped me progress as I was putting the whole cover and contents page together by my previous preliminary tasks and then applying it to the work. It aided me making my drafts for my contents page to show previously thought out template that I made myself to show how the product is put together. It also helped me to create a questionnaire for my target audience because I had to make the magazine with my audience in mind so that it would appeal to people instead of a non-relatable magazine.

Analysing colours of magazines showed me how it can show a connection throughout the magazine as well as a theme, this is why my genre of heavy/ dark music was shown through dark and vibrant colours and that was running throughout my whole magazine.

Overall I believe that the preliminary helped me create my product of my magazine’s cover page, contents page and double page spread. Through analysing and breaking down the meanings and attributes for every decision in my product.

Formative feedback - Miss Hunter

 WWW: Sabrina - your recent updates are excellent. Well done for getting your magazine completed and published.




EBI: Return to your case study and develop your ideas further.



Next steps: Begin your evaluation. Consider how you can use varied media when you evaluate.

Finalised Magazine Cover

I've added cover lines to the magazine cover so that it advertises the bands included so that the contents make more sense to the cover as well as the images.

Developed Magazine Cover -Virus

I have chosen to not include taglines or minor headings in the cover as a unconventional approach to the magazine.I have included a musical note to indicate that the magazine is based on music with the contents relating to the music made by the artist. I only made one relation to music as I wanted the attention be be placed on the vocalist Half-in instead of the entirety of the magazine. This way the audience will feel more connected with the band, with the lack of advertisement and other stories in the magazine.

Finalised Contents Page - Virus

I have chosen to add advertisement for the magazines other media platforms online. With this I have included the logos per application to visually convey the information. I have included an editors letter to connect to the audience. I've placed it beneath the images so that one side is not overwhelmed by text and the other by images.

I have made all of the images the same sizes and in a regimented order to make it pristine alongside the image numbers as they are all placed in the bottom right corner of each image. To show the significance of the story on page 9 I have given it an addition title and have sectioned it off.

Finalised Double Page Spread

I have enlarged the text so that it is easier to read as well as splitting the page with the title on so that it appears to be split. I have removed the box around the photography text so that it is similar to the other pieces of text.

Improved Double Page Spread

I have moved the title into the centre of the double page spread as well as spreading out the interview over the two pages. I moved the text towards the bottom of the page so that the image of the band members was clear throughout.

Additional Double Page Spread

I've changed the text position and changed the colour to a darker purple to connect the double page spread to the cover image. I have removed images so that there is more focus on the main image. I have included page numbers so that it correlates to the contents page.I have moved the website link next to the boxed text on the bottom half of the page so that the text was not boarding the page. I decided to change the boxed text to white so that it corresponded with the rest of the text in the magazine.

Detailed Double page spread - Virus

I have changed the format of the double page spread so that the second page is more text and picture based so that the audience do not become overwhelmed with the content. The colour has been stripped to imitate the previous pages and show the theme of dark and punky through the images. I changed the background image to the whole band and I stretched it out between both pages as they are the main focus. I flipped it backwards so that the interview was closest to the vocalist. I have made the magazines name smaller and on a diagonal axis because it is not the main attraction to the page but it has colour to show it's importance throughout. I have added information regarding the photography as it is more professional and it advertises the content. This is also shown through the website name being shown above the magazine title.  

Feedback

Through my feedback form I am shown the majority of people enjoy the aesthetics of my music magazine. It also shows that my music genre is not certain through my magazine. However this is what I wanted to achieve as I wanted to show that the bands were not necessarily only one genre. Overall it showed that my theme was dark as people wrote punk, rock and grunge. Not everybody liked the magazine which is realistic as not all people enjoy the same music and therefore shows my audience is not completely open as I focus on heavy music. 

Because I have not shown music on my cover page to show the audience that the magazine is based around music I will add some imagery to show that it is a music magazine. As well as this I want to highlight the variety of music genres presented in my magazine by using more images, such as bands and concerts in my contents page. This will be alongside an editors letter to connect further to my audience.

Double page spread - Virus

I've re-positioned the texts and images so that the second page is not heavily built on one side, and is instead spread out. The bands logo has been minimized because it was significantly larger than the text and images. Another image has been in added to occupy the space on the page and to exaggerate that the content and text completely surrounds the members of the band. There is a larger amount of text to give more depth to the artists.

Draft Double page spread - Virus

I made the bands logo large on the second page to promote them next to their images and the information linked to them. The colours on the double page spread are not similar or create a specific atmosphere showing that the band are punky, they look more casual in these photos. The pages look empty and the text is positioned too high in the page. The content text is not varied in size which makes all information as important as others not highlighting any text.

Contents page improvements - Virus

I've altered the layout for my contents page so that images relating to music and London are included to show the themes in the magazine. The top image is blue to correlate with the title and page numbers, the other images have little tone so they appear monochrome. Which is similar to the cover and double page spread. 
The title is underlined and larger to show the difference between the text and titles. Whereas the page numbers are in blue to highlight them. The images have numbers on them correlating to the stories on the left. I have kept the galaxy in the background to connect the contents page to the cover page.

Contents page -Virus

I have altered the images so that the band member is placed on the galaxy. The background is dark but still colourful and you can see the images. I've darkened the space surrounding the text so that it can be easily read. The font has been changed so the writing was neater and clearer. 

Contents Page - Virus

I've added more information for the magazine brand to fill the page further. I've spaced out the text more so it is easier to read and clear which point is which. I've changed the text colour so it can be seen in the lighter areas but it looks strange next to the white text. I moved the title and sub-heading and it looks neater as is easier to navigate through the page. I've darkened the galaxy image so that the text can be interpreted easier but it has been ineffective. The image of the band member has been enlarged to bring more focus on her rather than her background.

Magazine Contents Page Draft - Virus

I have restricted the text to be on the left side of the contents so that it was not messy on the page and was easily read but the text is not very visible on top of the galaxy image. I altered the image so that it was bright and bold next to the galaxy image. I've repeated the galaxy to promote the same subjects being shown in the magazine. The title for the contents page overlaps the image of the band member and looks unorganised.  

Magazine Cover -Virus

The image is cleaner and brighter, I changed the background image to compliment the other colours on the page. I brightened the title and decreased it's size so it fits on a portrait version; The text is easier to read when minimized on the page. The lack of text attracts more focus on the image and title which is what I wanted to achieve however I have not used a barcode so I would insert one to finalize it.

Finalized Magazine covers - Virus

Landscape version (Final)

The text does not attract too much attention from the image or title but using taglines and sub-headings will be too confusing on the page so I will not add it. The image is too dark. The title cannot be seen behind the image so it should be placed in front, however, this forces the image to be dark. I will make the title smaller so the image can be seen clearer.

Portrait version

The text is not visible on the dark background, the blue text compliments the title but contrasts the background. The barcode in the top is too bright on the page so I would move it down the page. The page appears unorganised with text all over the page and the image separated from the backround. I will not use this format for the cover page. 

Magazine Cover Improvements

Portrait version

The images do not match up with colours or tones. I dislike this even though I added more colour to make the cover more appealing. I tried to use the landscape image and paste it on top of a new background this is ineffective to appearing professional. The cover looks empty so I will add text to make the cover more interesting.

Landscape version

I covered the image with the title, layering each side to make it outstanding. This has made the cover dark and eerie. There is not much colour to the image so I will change that. The image is landscape so that the title fitted, but this is going to have to be changed. I also removed all separate text as it detracts the attention from the title and image.

Detailed Cover page portrait - Virus

I used the same image to make to portrait version, I had to crop the image otherwise it would be too stretched. I also had to create a border because of this. The text was changed to white so it was visible on the black. The font looked too uncontrolled with a total of four fonts spread around the page. I dislike the boarder and the taglines invading the images so much. I think the title should have more impact on the magazine.

Detailed Cover Page - Virus

The text on the left cannot be read easily even in bold and underlined. I will change the colour of the text to a lighter shade so it can be seen over the background. I like the monochrome foreground however I think that the blurring of black appears untidy. The barcode is almost as large as the title so I will reduce it's size so it has less attention drawn to it. The image is also placed landscape which is unprofessional. 

Draft Magazine Covers - Virus

I have positioned where I think I would use the title, text, barcode, image, date and release number; I have experimented with my ideas to create different cover images however, they do not look professional and are not in portrait which is the orientation for magazines. The title is the highlight of the cover on the last image as it is placed on her head in a very dark tone, I will not use this in my final cover image. I dislike the barcode being placed at the top of the page because it appears too similar to the title. The colour of the foreground contrasting to the background is too plain if the text is all white. Having both the background and foreground in colour is distracting to the text. Drafting these has helped me make decisions for my final cover page.

Cover image thoughts and reasons

Photo-shoot for magazine -Virus

Reasons for Photo-shoot

The photo-shoot was done in the evening so that the surroundings were dark; I wanted this because of the dimmer surroundings. The clothing as also black, as rock and punk fashion mainly use black. There are many images of the singular girl in all black because she represents the genre most of all placed next to a metal coloum or on the concrete ground, this is because both of these things are hard and cold, a physical representation of how she feels while isolated from the rest of the group. The stances are semi-casual as I wanted the members to empathize with the audiences while maintaining an image

-Virus Magazine Plan

This information will aid me in creating the magazine. Learning about my audience will keep my magazine's price low, I will not be objected to only write about a specific gender age or race because people from all backgrounds are inclined to read the magazine. However, I will target the hobbies of individuals so my magazine appeals to them. 

Case Study- Retro Gamer

Cover page analysis

The title sums up the magazine telling the audience the genre of the magazine, Being large on the front page shows that the theme is significant throughout the content. The image is illustrated covering the entire background in an heightened style and colour with fiction images. Most games are fiction based in alternate realities. Excluding the left bottom corner which appears to be burnt, peeling from the corner. This eventuates the contrast with the photo of a keyboard in the corner with plain subtle colours. The subtitles informs about games, consoles, software and interviews of celebs. Targeting the new information for the audience to portray on the front page. The language is informal so that the audience is comfortable reading it as a leisure activity rather a compulsory text. Making the subtitles abbreviated and bullet pointed so the information is quick and easy to read. The bar-code is placed center bottom of the page with the amount to pay on top so the audience are confirmed of the price. The audience are gamers who prefer older games hence the title ‘Retro’  and the old illustrative style including 8- bit images

Contents page analysis

The contents start from the top left corner and end in the bottom right corner following the western layout compared to the eastern layout as the front page had some Japanese writing on. Special, Revivals, Classics and Essentials are headings that entice the readers, although the text is not essential they claim it for information that should peak the audiences interests. Special makes the content appear more than it is, even if it is a keyboard. The advertisements portray it to be more interesting by using the image placement and use of language in the tagline. Achieved by placing the keyboard over the dark background; knocking over boundaries, placed next to the featured lists of games and interviews. Classics make the contents old but gold, a list of must play games. With content that will stand with other popular games through new consoles and games. There is a large amount of images 7 small, 3 doubled and 1 large image spreading between the two pages. The images are photos as well as illustrations and screen shots showing the variety of recording in the gaming industry this includes the wide use of colour both neon heightened colours and realistic earthy tones. As the large image is placed on both pages, it connects them; displaying the contents as a singular page contrasted to two completely different pages. Using the same image as the cover image explores the importance of "Space Harrier" including two large images on close pages. That has been slightly altered by cropping but the same image.

Double page analysis

The double page article is based upon the death of Satoru Iwata, talking about his legacy. With Iwata’s birthday and the day of deceased above the heading. Words such as memories and sadness  appear conveying the motif of mourning throughout the text. The colour scheme also explores this, black is the main colour on the pages. Dominating the background. This is because black represents death and mourning.The double page article uses colloquial language. Instead of writing formally about the death of Satoru Iwata the magazine the writer has used informal language to make the magazine more friendly to empathize with the audience. The text does not use much punctuation, relaying how much information is needed to be conveyed quickly. Under the title ‘Iwata helps’ is some information on some games he has worked on making contributions showing off his works and achievements. The double page spread includes a large amount of text all based around the images of Iwata to show that the information is also based around him and the games that he has created. Giving information about all of his work and his career.