Evaluation - Question 7

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product? 

 I have progressed my understanding of both magazine conventions and aesthetic features since creating my preliminary task. I have learnt about layout and design of specific music genres. I have learnt about new technologies such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, which in turn has also increased my knowledge of how magazines are designed and produced. I have also learnt more about the magazine industry since creating my school magazine.


Time Management
 The amount of time that I spent on my Preliminary task and my Main task greatly differ, as I put a lot my time and effort into my Main task, since it required a lot more detail and design relating to existing Music Magazines, which was vital to creating a high-quality. This meant that I needed to do more planning and research for my Music Magazine. The extent for my school magazine was looking at my own school's magazine and a few others, but I didn't do any labelled or written research like for my Music Magazine.


Equipment
 Photoshop was the program that I used most constantly throughout the creation of both my tasks, as well as the 2 camera's - Olympus FE-360 (image left) and the camera on a Sony XPERIA phone (image right) - using the phone for my School Magazine and the Olympus camera for the Music Magazine. I also used an iMac computer for all of my work, apart for occasionally using my own laptop - Sony VAIO (image below left) - for writing on my blog.

Photographs
 I put much more thought into what I wanted the pictures for my Music Magazine to look like, in terms pf camera angles, composition, props, background and pose of the model. The picture for my School Magazine was taken when me and two classmates went around the school looking for ideas for our front cover, which ended up with me taking a picture of my classmate in the library, as the thought occurred to me that a 

student featured in a library would be ideal for a school magazine. I needed a suitable background for my Music Magazine however, compared to my School Magazine, so the text and other images featured on my Front Cover were easily visible, 

which I did through cutting out my model in Photoshop using the Extraction Tool. I told my model what I wanted him to look like in terms of costume, props and pose, which I didn't consider so much with my School Magazine Front Cover. I also edited my Music Magazine photographs in more detail compared to my School Magazine, including the use of Brightness and Contrast as well as simply 'fixing' and 'auto-adjusting' my pictures.


Fonts
From researching other music magazines I found that they often use many different fonts on their front covers, whilst still maintaining a house style across the magazine, something which I believe I have accomplished in my Music Magazine, possible less so in my School Magazine. For example, in my Double Page Spread (image right), I made use of 6 different fonts, but it is notable that 3 of the texts: 'The one you have all been waiting for...', The Master of Alternative Rock - but not as you know him' and the big 'W' are all distorted and eroded, and the pull quote: 'The odds were against me' is in the same font as the page numbers on the Contents Page and at the bottom of the Double Page Spread.


Personal Accomplishment
 Since the creation of my School Magazine I have increased my understanding of Photoshop throughout my progression in Media Studies. I was particularly proud of my Double Page Spread as I thought it looked really good due to the effects and layout that I had learnt through using Photoshop, something that I wouldn't have been able to do at the Preliminary Task stage in the year.

Evaluation - Question 6

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 6

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

 Adobe Photoshop

 I believe this was the most important piece of technology that I used throughout the whole of my media coursework due to its incredibly usefulness that ultimately contributed massively to my final pieces (Preliminary Task and Music Magazine). This is because I created the front cover and contents for both my School Magazine and Music Magazine entirely using Photoshop. It allowed me to create a realistic piece of work that achieved professionalism in areas such as the graphics of the front cover and the easy layout positioning of both pieces which is the standard met by real School and Music Magazines, using similar software to Photoshop to create authentic and professional-looking work. 

 Photoshop is, essentially, a graphics editing program with which I could create pieces of work including a fire planet (image above right) and a constructed blend of a cello and written music (image left). The most notable pieces of edited work in my final pieces are the title for my artist in my Double Page Spread (image below right) and the sticker on my front page (image below left). This advanced program also allowed me to construct my work using a simple layer style that could be used to arrange the text and pictures on my pages easily and efficiently.

  I was a bit apprehensive before using Photoshop as the most similar program I had used was Microsoft Paint, which actually contrasts to Adobe Photoshop massively. I was introduced to the program through simple lessons on colour editing, image transferring and cutting out images. I found it to be relatively easy to use after a few weeks and discovered it to be an extremely advanced piece of software with which you could create a professional-looking piece of work not unsimilar to what real magazines are created with.

Adobe InDesign

 Before I started using this program, I was confused as to why I couldn't use Photoshop to create my Double Page Spread. However, soon after using InDesign, I discovered that this program was far more adapt to creating a double page spread, due to the user being able to create columns of text with ease, as well as use tools such as text wrap (image right) to, as the name implies, wrap text around images to create a good-looking 2 pages of text and images. A similar program to InDesign I think is Microsoft Publisher, which enables you to create publications using text boxes and images, which could be argued that I could have used this program instead of InDesign. 

Blogger

 Below is a video which provides a simple guide to blogs:

 A blog-publishing online service provided by Google, it was considered the most effective way of displaying Media Studies Students' coursework, since all their work could be displayed, edited and marked online. I liked Blogger instantly because of its easy-to-use simple layout and design, and because I could look at my friends work and compare it with my own. It was easy to upload all of my coursework and display it online, which has lead to my teacher and peers giving me critical and constructive feedback. It also allowed me to access my coursework from home, and not just in lesson-time. Overall I found Blogger to be a good, different coursework experience to the usual written pages found in subjects such as English and History. I would also say that it has a more friendly, easier way of doing coursework, as I didn't have to spend hours re-writing written work like in English, I could put images and videos in my work and I could personalise my work, like using different fonts, colours and layouts.

Evaluation - Question 5

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

 The target audience for my School Magazine was for members of the Sixth form who enjoyed their school life and education, and my magazine was designed to contribute to their learning and enjoyment of their learning. Therefore, I needed to provide my potential customers with reasons for them to buy my product, such as advertising the unbelievable, fascinating stories inside my magazine, such as '12 A* at GCSE' and 'Books: A thing of the past?'. However I think the main way that my target audience would be drawn to buy my magazine is the main picture (image right), as it emphasises the fact that my magazine is for well-read individuals with a hard-work ethic, due to my model's pose; the well-dressed student is reading a book in a library, displaying qualities of a model student, which is what readers of my magazine would hope to aspire to, similar to the magazine: Men's Health (image below right), as the main image on the front cover tends to be an every-day, muscular man who the readers can look up to and see as a role model, bearing similarity to my magazine front cover and model.

 Another way I approached my target audience was through my mode of address in Music Magazine, through language such as 'V Threads - get the indie look' (Threads being colloquial language for clothes, and 'indie' is the music genre that my magazine is mainly concerned with), as well as the enticing offer of a reduced subscription fee, as is featured in many magazines.

 In total I listed 14 artists on my front cover, mainly as a way of attracting my target audience; when somebody sees a band that they like on a music magazine, they are likely to buy to buy that particular magazine. The artist list also certified my magazine as a indie/alternative rock magazine featuring bands such as Kings of Leon and The Killers.

Evaluation - Question 4

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
 My target audience member (image right)

 
Shops: H&M, TOPMAN, Converse, Urban Outfitters

Music: Kings of Leon, Coldplay, The Kooks, Vampire Weekend, The Naked and Famous

TV: Dave, E4, MTV, BBC three,

Magazine: KERRANG!, Mojo, NME, Vice

Clothing: Trilby hat, Woven scarf with trim fringes, Skinny jeans, Loose fitting t-shirt, COnverse trainers

Tribe: Hipsters, Indie Scenesters, Ravers, Emo, Metalhead, Skaters and Scene Kids

 This short video highlights what my target audience is, as well as their interests and media consumptions: GoAnimate.com: Music by Rikstar009

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

 The audience for my magazine is rather broad, giving a real sense of modern music that people will be interested in, sounds good and relates to old popular music. I went on UkTribes.com (UK Tribes was born in 2005, when Channel 4Crowd DNA (then called Ramp Industry) to run a project called TV Glue, which looked to measure how TV could remain a unifying force in the midst of media fragmentation). This site offers an extremely good understanding of modern, urban social groups, which would be perfect for identifying my target audience. I ventured into some of the Tribes' characteristics to find the ones that are most suitable for my potential readers. 

 I thought that my magazine would be relatively mainstream, as it offers a wide variety of music that lots of young adults would be interested in, so I started with the mainstream; the normal cliche. I was first intrigued by 'Ravers', as I knew that clubs are always extremely popular with teenagers and young adults, which is what my double page spread article is vastly concerned about. I thought that the definition of a 'Raver' fitted in reasonably well with my target audience allocation: 
 "These are the young people who burn the candle at both ends and for who club culture is pivotal. A once large community has dwindled (but not as much as the media believe). Now predominantly mainstream and located somewhere between trendies and townies, this tribe no longer defines itself as outsiders because of their musical tastes or addiction to clubbing. Indeed, many consider other niche youth tribes ‘a bit weird’. They like better-known clubs such as Fabric (London), Club So (Liverpool), Mission (Leeds), Pacha, big clubbing events such as Gatecrasher and other mainstream music festivals like Wireless and the V festival. Clubbers, it could be said, are suburban good time boys and girls."

'Casuals' seemed to fit my target audience quite well, seeing as they're not really bothered by much and go with the flow, which epitomises their mainstream taste in music and fashion, which meant that they would most likely be interested in my magazine. "Casuals are a re-emerging sub Tribe within the 16-24 demographic. Inheritors of lad mag culture - boozy, smartly dressed, football-mad, and largely mainstream in terms of music and TV taste - Casuals are a tight bunch and tend to start young and stick to the lifestyle in later years – hitting the pub with their best mates to talk about sport, sex and twaddle."

I skipped the 'Urban' section as I knew that my magazine didn't really represent the essence of their tribes that form their life, such as the fact that they are influenced massively by what music they listen to, and I didn't want my magazine to convince anyone of their own opinion and for them to lead their life by the music I told them to listen to. 

 I liked the alternative section the most as I thought that was what my magazine mainly predominated in, providing my target audience with alternative music such as alternative rock, rock pop and indie rock. 

 Although I wasn't particularly keen on their ideals and what they represented, I thought that the 'Emo' social tribe fitted quite well with my target audience, seeing as their media consumption is mainly taken up by magazines and music. Their main taste in music is emotional, which defines them as a tribe, including bands such as 'My Chemical Romance' and 'Panic at the Disco', bands which I knew my magazine would be perfect to present in articles and front covers. "The last couple of years have seen this group go from marginal to proto-mainstream – they have, at the very least, gained much wider cultural currency. Bands like Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance have also provided a chart presence and publications like the NME have given emo music a massive boost."

 Again, I found the tribe 'Scene Kids' rather distasteful as I just disregarded them as attention seeking teenagers who try very extremely to stand out from the crowd, however I was surprised and pleased with their actual definition, as I thought that they would be really interested in my magazine, as it presented a different sort of life style as well as 'cool' alternative music that would be very popular in their social group. I thought that they might buy my product simply because it was so different from other magazines and had a genre of its own "Scene Kids are a recent arrival from the States that found their feet in the north of England and are gradually moving south. They are basically a cooler, slightly more accessible and better-dressed version of Emo – though strangely some think there’s a bit of Chav to them; probably because they’re more feisty than Emos. Musically, Scene Kids love a mix of electronics and hardcore punk guitars, with top bands being Late of the Pier, Gallows and Bring Me The Horizon (though lesser known local bands also get a lot of support)"

" Skaters are one of the few UK tribes to be defined by something other than music – and as all music becomes increasingly mainstream, this may provide inspiration for other tribes." Although Uk Tribes claimed that Skaters aren't generally interested in music as much as other tribes I thought that they would be interested in my magazine as it does not just throw music in their faces, forcing them to conform to that particular genre or artist. Perhaps not as intrigued by my magazines as other tribes, I still felt that they might buy my magazine as it presented them with a different approach to magazines and fitted in quite well with their tastes and opinions, as well as their approach to music.

 The Uk Tribe that I thought was really easy to approach as my target audience was the 'Metalheads': "The Metalheads tribe generally sees more people coming and going than other tribes – appeal wanes for many quite quickly. Metalheads feel no need to justify themselves to others, and are generally a friendly badge-wearing bunch but they do have a tendency to hate Chavs and Townies, as well as generally frowning upon the musical tastes of the Emos and Indie Scenesters.". They fitted into my target audience purely because of their music taste, Rock and Heavy Metal, which is what a lot of my magazine is about, although I thought that they be put off by the Alternative Rock side of my magazine as they tend to despise any other take on old-fashioned Rock and a mainstream side of Rock.

 I was most interested in the Leading Edge section, as my magazine's double page spread was mainly focused on developing new ideas that could appeal to most Tribe sections in society. This is connected with my featured artist, 'Kudos', who is an aspirer creating brilliant new music in conjunction with modern, popular forms and styles, which is what largely defines the Leading Edge as a Tribe section.

 'Hipsters' are what my target audience is most likely to be made up of, "Hipsters are Britain’s trendiest tribe and are largely male (though female hipsters certainly exist). They have a deep need to be ahead of the game and consider themselves trendsetters rather than followers. Hipsters are enthusiastic about the new and adventurous in their choices". Similar to 'Kudos', many hipsters will think like him in the way of creating new trends and other such factors which define the Uk Youth Market today. UkTribes.com also claimed that Hipsters are not interested in anything mainstream, moving on from a particular brand or other such influencing social inducing factor that they have been individualists in if it becomes common and popular, and I would imagine 
that my magazine wouldn't become extremely popular like other magazines such as 'Q' and 'Mojo' as it doesn't include or represent music that will heavily influence a particular social cliche, such as the Urban section.

Evaluation - Question 3

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

  
Music magazine distributors:

• Q - Bauer Media
• Mojo - Bauer Media
• NME - IPC Media
• Kerrang! - Bauer Media
• Rolling Stone - Wenner Media LLC
• Billboard - Prometheus Global Media

 The role of music magazine distribution is one for the most important factors affecting how popular and successful a company is. Take Bauer for example; they publish 3 of the most successful music magazines, whereas companies like IPC and Wenner Media are shown to be less successful, due to the fact that they represent less magazines. This means that Bauer have always been very good at publishing their magazines, them having ownership over the 3 most popular (non-free) music magazines, as the figures below show:

Mojo ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 87,555 ; -7.5%
Q ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 77,522 ; -12.1%
Kerrang! ( Bauer Consumer Media ) : 42,077 ; -2.1%
New Musical Express ( IPC Media Ltd ) : 27,650 ; -14.0%

 Statistically, Bauer are the most successful publishing company, so for a new magazine it would be unwise to approach a massive company like Bauer in hope that they would publish their magazine. Perhaps if my magazine was more well-known and held in higher esteem then I would approach Bauer for them to publish 'Vantage.', as I recognised that all 3 of their magazines retain certain qualities and attributes that my magazine also portrays (i.e pop rock music, discovering new artists etc.) as I used Q, Mojo and Kerrang! for lots of my research into what my magazine should be like.

 Although I believe Bauer is the company I would most like to publish my magazine, I would also consider a smaller company like IPC, who publish NME as they are much more independent than Q, Mojo and Kerrang!, as NME isn't part of a huge company that controls what their 3 magazines. Therefore, they have fewer boundaries that they need to stick to and will have more of a say in what they put in their magazine. I would prefer this as I would have more freedom of speech in my articles regardless of what is perhaps socially acceptable in today's society that a bigger company like Bauer would want their magazines to present. This also furthers the idea that NME is an 'Indie' (independent) magazine, something that I would like my magazine to represent, having no boundaries to conform to that Bauer might inflict upon their magazines.

 To conclude if I wanted to set up a magazine company I would want to publish it independently, similar to NME, so I could have freedom in what I wrote, but I would like to run the publishing side similarly to how Bauer run Q, Mojo and Kerrang!, for I have stated in the above that I admired their ideals and attributes that make them so successful as an institution. So I would retain the attributes and qualities of Bauer's magazines that I admire, but manage a distribution company that was similar to IPC in the way that it is independent and free from underlying factors that would affect the contents of my magazine and the writing style that defines it as an 'Indie' magazine and sets it apart from other music magazines on the market.

Evaluation - Question 2

EVALUATION ACTIVITY 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The picture I have chosen in this question is one that has been a particular favourite of mine and others throughout my coursework. Considered too busy a background for a front page photograph, I reserved it later for use in my double page spread. When I first showed it to my fellow students it was received with great popularity, mainly because of the prop used (the big Lego head) as I had turned my model’s head into something that represented a lot of fun childhood memories. The idea that the Lego head also made the image seem slightly ridiculous was also an element that was liked by popular opinion; as music artists tend to be somewhat odd and have their own special outfit/fashion, the Lego head fitted in reasonably well with other artists. It could be viewed that my artist’s main characterising feature can be compared to the artists: Deadmau5 (image right), whose outfit is defined by his large mouse-like head ornament, and 

Daft Punk (image left), a duo who always appear with their iconic helmets. The fact that Deadmau5 and Daft Punk wear these means that wherever it appears, be it posters or albums, people will immediately relate that piece of apparel to Deadmau5 or Daft Punk, as it is a very unique item. This is similar to my artist’s head ornament as I have never seen anybody wearing a Lego head as a hat/mask, let alone any music artist, giving my artist a unique identity, as well as being instantly recognisable.