Contents analysis

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The first contents page I analysed was inside NME magazine. It matches the genre of magazine I would like to create. It follows the same target audience as the front cover.
In terms of imagery, the page features only one large image of a band that is situated in the top left. It takes up a lot of space but keeps the page from looking dull. The image also helps you find an article about them as under it you are told the page to find the article and some information about the article.
In terms of colour, the page uses a very simple colour pallet which makes reading the contents much easier. It does still look exiting and bright with the use of the image.
In terms of typography, the contents page follows the same single font convention as the covers. the font follows the colour pallet with some use of negative to make the subheadings stand out with white on black without the need to add a bright colour.



The second contents page I analysed was inside a Q magazine. It seems to follow the same basic design as the NME magazine.
In terms of imagery, the page features one large image and one small one. The large is of four men standing. It is situated in the top right of the page. It takes up a lot of space but brings some more colour to the page. The smaller image has the same effect for the lower half of the page.
In terms of colour, the page also uses a very simple colour pallet which makes reading the contents much easier. The images are the main colour on the page with the subheadings also bringing in some brighter red which makes them stand out. The simple style contents are easy to read.
In terms of typography, the contents page follows the same single font convention as all the other covers and the NME magazine contents page. The font is simple and allows the main focus of the page to stand out and allows easy contents reading.



The third contents page I analysed was inside another NME magazine. I decided to do another NME magazine contents as I found one that didn't follow the same style as most of the others.
In terms of imagery, the page features many different images which all lead to articles about the subject of the images. This gave an easier way of finding articles but meant there was less featured articles.
In terms of colour, the page still continues the use of a very simple colour pallet. However, the images make the page much brighter. This colour does make the page look fairly busy.
In terms of typography, the contents page follows the same single font convention as the previous contents page. The font still follows the colour pallet used on the cover and the other contents page.

After reviewing these contents pages I have found some common conventions I may follow on my magazine. The conventions are very similar to the covers but with a different design around them. The designs seem to favour the use of one large image and a simple colour pallet. I will follow these conventions when I create my own contents page.

Evaluation

I created my evaluation for upload on Youtube. I recorded my voice and then added photos behind it to produce a video. I had some technical problems with the audio but eventually I worked it out and learn a fair amount about video editing, audio editing and video uploading.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH4w6wcY-T8&feature=youtu.be

Audience Research

I asked some people what they they on a magazine cover, contents page and article. I used the site surveymokey.com to create a survey which I sent to many people for answers. All participents were students aged 15-18 who would fit in my target audience

Results:

How many colours should a magazine use in its theme?

1 colour - 0
2 colour - 2
3 colour - 5
4 colour - 6
5 colour - 2

This shows me that a simpler colour pallet is good but you need at least 3 colours. I plan to use about a 3 or 4 colour pallet for my magazine.

What is most interesting on a magazine cover?

Image on front - 8
Teasers - 4
 Masthead - 3

It appears that the image on the front is the most interesting to viewers. I will make sure my main image is very large and stands out.

Key Institutions

I looked at different magazine distributors to find who I would like distributing my magazine.

ICP Media (International Publishing Company)

ICP Media is the UK's leading magazine publisher. They own major music magazines such as NME and GUITAR. They sell an average of over 350 million magazine copies every year.

I don't think this institution would suit my magazine as they already own the largest indie magazine out right now. It would only b competition against themselves.

Bauer

Bauer is a German magazine distributor. They own magazine such as Q and Kerrang. They focus on men's magazines as there top magazines have a male focus.

This institution could be a good choice as they do not have a large indie magazine. However, it seems they focus mainly on male magazines and my magazine is targeted at both male and female. But this
is not a problem as I could adapt my magazine to be more male based fairly easily.

Independent

Ultimately I have decided to go for independent distribution as I felt this suited the genre. As the genre is independent it makes sense to also be independent. It may be harder to initial get you magazine to the public but once you find a way you should also be able to make a greater profit, which is ultimately the goal of a magazine.

Flat plans

Photoshoot

 Planning

Models needed: At least three teenagers who fit into the target audience
Costume/props: Casual clothing / Everyday clothes.
Equipment: Guitar, SLR Camera.

I chose models who fit into the target audience as it gives the readers an idea the the target audience and they can be used as star models. They would be happy and casual in the photos to connote 'youth as fun' (Dick Hebdige).
 I wanted them wearing casual clothing so they looked relaxed and it is much more conformable for the models who may not have done much modeling before
I used an SLR camera as they can produce high quality photos and I can set the focus much better than on a lesser quality camera. I wanted a guitar to show the model was a guitarist but I was unable to get a guitar for use in the photoshoot.

Here are some photo from my photoshoot:

 

Overall my photoshoots went well and I managed to get all the photos I needed for my magazine. I took many photos and chose the best that were in focus and had everyone in a pose I enjoyed. 

Audience Profile

To get an idea of my audience I needed to create a profile of my audience. It is an idea of the audience and the average audience.

Age: 11-19
Gender: 70% male, 30% female
Nationality: Mainly British but possibly American if the magazine could get distribution there
Class: Middle class
Ethnicity: Any
Sexuality: Any

I want to follow Dick Hebdiges theory of 'Youth as fun. Youth as troublemaker'.

Contents Page Creation

The first part of my contents page creation consisted of me adding a masthead. I just chose a simple masthead and made it white against the black background so it was easy to read. I also added the magazine title in the top right corner along with the magazines issue date. I also created a layout for the contents page. I imitated the NME contents page I saw by adding contents on the right and a large picture on the left.

I then created the contents. I used the same colour pallet as the rest of the magazine and made all the contents in alternate colours to keep the page bright with colour. I left space at the bottom for a more important piece of content.

The final parts of its creation consisted of the image, caption, description and teaser. I added a teaser which enticed the reader to read on to the next page. It is about the article featured on my magazine cover. I then added the image. I wanted a simple close-up of a model to feature on the page. I added in the photo and applied a filter. The filter made the picture look more exciting than a plain picture. I then added a caption and a slight description of it.

Overall my contents page turned out fairly well. I think it is the weakest of all my products due to the dull image and bad spacing on the caption/description. However, it does still look OK and I am fairly happy with it. 

Double Page Spread Creation

The first part of my double page spread creation was creating an article to feature. I planned to make up an article about a new group and their rise to fame. I just started by brainstorming ideas. I planned to say they had a summer tour coming up and give information on the lead-up to the tour from there start-up to there current life. I firstly drafted an article:

First draft:

Electronic group Fluid has officially announced their new European tour, beginning this summer. The tour will span 40 days in different venues across Europe. Once the tickets went on sale the main venues sold out within 3 hours and the rest of the venues were fully by Thursday night. Their new tour will include every song from their new album, which is out on the 25th of March. fluid started out remixing tracks from other artists with their own styles. Their first hit remix was a remix of the Plan B song ‘The Recluse’. The song received a view count of about 4 million and was featured on the first page of the YouTube music page, which generated more followers for their channel. After receiving a large following on YouTube they produced their first original track ‘Reality’. The track became an instant hit with the fans and eventually reached the uk top 40. The track peaked at number 6 and was a huge debut single for the group. Following its success Fluid began working on other sngs for their new album. Each new track has been featured on the groups YouTube page. They have released five tracks so far which have all been successful with one track reaching number one on the uk top 40. The track

‘Mercury is their most successful track so far which reached number one and stayed there for 2 weeks. The group announced that their debut album entitled ‘Motion’ will include 10 previously unknown tracks and the original five. Each of these 10 unknown songs will be released in singles over the 10 months after the albums release, starting on the 5th of May. Each following track will be released on the 5th day of each month until the last song is released on the 5th of March 2014. The group consists of three boys from south London: Ryan Williams, Dave Smith and Will Blake. They started to make money when some of their remixes were making money from iTunes downloads. Once they had made enough money from these remixes they decided to buy some professional equipment, which would allow them to mix faster and to produce higher quality music. The new software allowed for more manipulation of the audio and more control over the beats. We asked the group about why they started making music and Ryan Williams, the original creator of the group, said, “Music is where my heart is. It gets everyone up and jumping. Making the world dance is our goal”.

I got feedback on my first draft. The first criticism it received was about some spelling/grammar mistakes. I would fix these in my final draft now they had been pointed out to me. The second was about the length. I was told it was too short for an article. I needed more information. The final criticism was that the article could be compared to a 'wiki article'. I realise the article is fairly informative with little personal view. I used all this feedback and created a final draft.

Second draft:

Electronic group Fluid has officially announced their new European tour, beginning this summer. The tour will span 40 days in different venues across Europe. Once the tickets went on sale the main venues sold out within 3 hours and the rest of the venues were fully by Thursday night. Their new tour will include every song from their new album, which is out on the 25th of March. Fluid started out remixing tracks from other artists with their own styles. Their first hit remix was a remix of the Plan B song ‘The Recluse’. The song received a view count of about 4 million and was featured on the first page of the YouTube music page, which generated more followers for their channel. After receiving a large following on YouTube they produced their first original track ‘Reality’.The track became an instant hit with the fans and eventually reached the UK top 40. The track peaked at number 6 and was a huge debut single for the group. Following its success Fluid began working on other songs for their new album. Each new track has been featured on the groups YouTube page. They have released five tracks so far which have all been successful with one track reaching number one on the UK top 40. The track

‘Mercury is their most successful track so far which reached number one and stayed there for 2 weeks. The group announced that their debut album entitled ‘Motion’ will include 10 previously unknown tracks and the original five. Each of these 10 unknown songs will be released in singles over the 10 months after the albums release, starting on the 5th of May. Each following track will be released on the 5th day of each month until the last song is released on the 5th of March 2014. The group consists of three boys from south London: Ryan Williams, Dave Smith and Will Blake. They started to make money when some of their remixes were making money from iTunes downloads. However, this method of remixing meant they had to pay a percentage to the original songs artists as the songs included most of the original song content. Usually the song sounded fairly different and only the voice of the original artist remained. Once they had made enough money from these remixes they decided to buy some professional equipment, which would allow them to mix faster and to produce higher quality music. The new software allowed for more manipulation of the audio and more control over the beats. We asked the group about why they started making music and Ryan Williams, the original creator of the group, said, “Music is where my heart is. It gets everyone up and jumping. Making the world dance is our goal”. Fluid has proven greatness and hopefully their new songs will be just as good. We are hoping that Fluid will become even more successful as they are quickly 

becoming our favourite group out there right now. If you haven’t listen to their music yet them you better do it right now. Seriously, right now. 

I got much more positive feedback this time and I decided to use this as my final article. Next I had to start the actual double page spread creation.

The start of my double page spread creation began with me making a masthead for the page. I saw how other magazines had simple titles and usually they were just the name of the artist/group featured in the article. I chose a rounded font as it related to the group name of Fluid. I then added a quote from my article which I placed in the top right in fairly large writing and in the same font as the masthead. I added a quote as it gives a small idea at the tone of the article.

Next I added in my article. I wanted to fill the whole second page. I chose a fairly large font for an article as I wanted it to be easy to read when I added a background. I also molded the text around the quote so it looked more natural and less blocky. At the bottom I added a small bordered section about another page of the magazine. This might convince someone to buy the magazine if the pick it up and read that one article. They would need to buy the magazine to enter the competition.

The final part of the creation was adding an image to the article to make it more appealing. I wanted to have a picture in the space I left and then have the picture slowly fade. However, I could not find out how to achieve this so I settled for my next plan. I decided to have the whole image faded in the background but put the body's of the models in full but at the parts where they covered the text it was hard to read the writing. I then decided just to make there heads in full and had the idea of giving them bigger heads than there body's. I felt the idea looked fairly funny and gave the idea that the group was fun too. It also follows the idea of 'Youth as fun' (Dick Hebdige).

Overall I think my article turned out fairly well and I managed to achieve a fairly professional looking magazine.

Front Cover Creation

Front Cover

The first part of my front cover creation was the masthead. I have showed the design and creation of this in my previous post. I created a fresh A4 photoshop document and began developing my front cover. Firstly I pasted in my masthead and found a good size. I wanted it to take up about 1/8 of the length of the page as this is a common size for a masthead and is a good size so it is easily visible by people who glance at the magazine on the shelf. Secondly I added some magazine content information in yellow above the masthead. I chose yellow as I wanted a colour that went nicely with the red and was much brighter. This information gives a small preview of the magazines content and is fairly easily seen by passers. I also added some additional information in white below. I made it white to contrast the black shape I placed behind. I wanted a colour pallet of red, yellow, black and white. 

The next part was adding a model. I decided to follow the general convention I found of one large image of one model. The model fitted into the target audience and could represent the buyers of the magazine. During my photo shoot I took images of the model from each side. I did plan on a role of each side like a police photo of a criminal. However, I just wanted one main image so decided against this idea. I added the main image of the models front and applied a black and white filter as I felt there was too much colour and the page may look messy and I wanted a clean feel to it. When it was done I felt the picture was a bit plain. I then started thinking of ways to manipulate the photo to make it more interesting. I then remembered the cover of an album I had seen. The album 'Watchtower' by Devlin featured and interesting design that The cover used a main image and then added another image on the top for a kind of ghostly feel. I thought it was interesting and it gave me the idea of adding my other unused side photos onto the main image. In the end I ended up with two faces coming out of the side of the main image. I felt the photo was interesting and much less plain than my original plan.

Finally I added some additional magazine content information to the page to fill the empty space and give teasers of the magazines content to entice viewers to read and buy the magazine. I also added a fairly large caption to the image explaining who the model is for people who wouldn't know. This is used on other covers such as the NME magazine and Brink. People may know the name of an artist but not know what they look like so this might be enough to interest them in the content. 

Overall my front cover went well and I had little problems in its creation. The small amount of problems I encountered were only due to saving problems and slightly lose of work. 

Masthead Design

Before I could create my front cover I needed a suitable name for my magazine. I wanted a name that related to the genre of the magazine without being to generic. I decided on the name 'Origin'. I chose this as it is short for original and my magazine would feature original, new indie artists. The name was a nice size and was rememberable.

The first step was planning the look of the masthead. I chose the colour palette of red, yellow and black as these were bright colours. I decided the masthead would look best in red as it isn't too bright but it would contrast my plans for a black and white cover image. I had to also chose a font to use and I wanted to use a fairly consistent font throughout. I looked on the website dafont.com for a suitable font.  I had used the website previously and have found some great fonts from it. I wanted a font which was easy to read but also looked bubbly and fun which would relate to the youth target audience and Hebdige's theory "Youth as fun". (Hebdige 1988). After some searching I found a few fonts and had to pick the best.

I chose these three font and had to decide on the best one for my magazine.
The first font was 'Chocolate G'. I chose this font as it was bubbly and rounded. The font was also easy to read. However, the font looked a bit childish and serious enough. I wanted something with a serious tone but a nice rounded font too.

Following this I found the second font, 'Conviction'. I liked this one as it was very easy to read but also looked serious. The font was rounded but still had the serious tone with the long letters and some sharp edges. The only negative I could find is that the V did seem to be less rounded than the rest which
didn't look too great. However, I wouldn't need to use a V in my cover so it should be OK.

The final font was called 'Origicide'. I noticed it while browsing and the title was relating to my magazines name. I like the serious tone accompanied by the rounded lettering. However, the I's looked very sharp and I decided the font would look better for a rock magazine.

After reviewing all of the fonts I finally settled on Conviction as it satisfied all my ideas. Here is the final look of my masthead.

Cover, Contents and Double page spread

Evaluaton - Planning/ basic script

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

I tried to follow most of the common magazine conventions during its creation. I analysed the works of professionals and looked at what was common in them. I didn't follow every convention I could find as I didn't want the magazine to look too common. I wanted a familiar feel but with a different edge on the already successful magazines.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine could represent teenagers/ young adults. This is the target audience so the magazine follows the conventions and ideas that appeals to them.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I chose the audience of student’s aged 11-19. I decided on this age group, as this age group is one of most likely to be interested in a music magazine. Teenagers typically only buy magazines so I wanted to attract the largest audience of consumers. However, my focus will be on this age range but ages older may find some aspects of it appealing, as the product will be mature and informative instead of using slang and gossip.

How did you attract/address your audience?

One way in which I attracted my target audience was to use a star model on the cover within the target age range. The star model represents the target audience as well as attracting those interested in the genre that may know who the model is. If they have interest in just the star model then they may be attracted to reading the article about them and buying the magazine.

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

For the distribution of my magazine I believe it would be best to go for an independent distributor as having a global publisher or media conglomerate would contradict the genre of magazine I have chosen. All artists featured in my magazine will be independent so it would make sense that the magazine is also independent. However, having a global publisher might mean more people are aware of the magazine and you can have a large audience. But by going with this type of publisher you might need to pay them a lot more than just going independent. So in this case, independent distribution is the best choice.

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

During the creation of my main task I have learnt many different techniques and skills. I used the photo manipulation on Photoshop in the creation of the magazine and learn many skills on this which helped give my magazine a professional look. I also used a professional SLR camera which I had little experiance with. I learn techniques for creating a professional photo with the use of focusing and lighting.

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

During this task I have learnt many new skills. I have learnt the mindset of a profesional magazine designer and the work that goes into a magazines creation. I have also improved my own skills in the creation aspects of a magazine, such as photo manipulation and photography. The skills I have learn will be useful in any future products. From this task I have learn my stonger and weaker points and know where I need to work on my skills. Overall I believe I have made progress since the start and have learnt lots of useful skills.

Double page spread analysis

When analysing the double page spreads I noticed that many conventions were similar to the contents pages and cover. The fonts didn't change throughout the magazines. Therefore I removed the most of the typeography analysis from my full analysis and focused just on the design and colour schemes.

The first double page article I analised was inside an NME mgazine. It follows the same conventions  and stylings of the cover and contents page.
In terms of imagery, the page features only one large image that is situated in the top right. It takes up a lot of space but keeps the page full of colour. The image brings the most colour to the article and is relevant to the topic of the article.
In terms of colour, the page uses a very simple colour pallet just like everything else in the NME magazine. The pictures always seem to be a large part of the magazine as they bring a lot of colour.
In terms of typography, the page features quotes from the article to grab your attention if you just glance at the article breifly.

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUb5IRetCHbl31ouLwmakYUha6UMcMQt8uPnKwey_dEFpQy8gwO43SWiJd:wearescientists.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/nmewas13mar10.jpg

The second double page article I analised was inside a 'Q' magazine. It follows the same conventions and stylings of the cover and contents page.
In terms of imagery, the page also features only one large image that is situated in the top right. It takes up a large space and spreads over from the right page and onto the left page. The large amount of colour from the picture contrasts the white and brings colour to the page. The image is relevant to the topic of the article and helps add make the page more apppealing to people just flicking through the magazine.
In terms of colour, the page uses a simple colour pallet just like the NME magazine. The colour of the questions in the article are red so you can understand when the interviewer is talking and when the interviewee is talking.
In terms of typography, the page features two quotes from the interview which it overlays on the large image. It gives hints at the article to browsers just flicking through.

For the last article analysis I decided to analise another one from 'Q' magazine. I spotted it while browing for another magazine.
In terms of imagery, the page features only one large image that is situated on the whole of the right page. I like how the image fills the whole page and makes the whole article seem lighter on words.The article also sexualises the model by giving implied nudity. This links to her being portrayed as an "Erotic object of desire" (Mulvey 1975). This could be used to attract the male audience to the article.
In terms of colour, the page uses a very simple colour pallet just most other magazines. The large picture brings the most colour to the page and the letter behind the writing contrasts the white.
In terms of typography, the page features quotes from the article and places it around the photo so it is easily spooted by browsers.

While analysing these double page spreads I have noticed some conventions that I may use in my own double page spread. 

The first convention was the use of a large picture. All the articles included a picture that filed at least a quarter of the page. These images all help to add colour to the image except from the last article which had a black and white photo. However, this made sense as the article included a large red letter which brought enough colour already and the added photo colour could make the article too bright. I plan to include a photo in my magazine article as this convention is used in almost al magazine articles. 

The second convention is the use of quotes. This can be useful in explaining the tone of the article and also hint at its content. I plan to use a quote related to my article for this reason.

The final convention I noticed was the lack of a large title or a title with any context. Two of the magazine articles had either no title or a generic and boring title. I plan to break this convention and add a fairly large title so the reader immediately understands what the article is about.