Evaluation Draft Question 7

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

I feel the most important progression I have made from my preliminary is the ability to use various software and technologies e.g Photoshop CS6. I also think my understanding of how a magazine is created in industry has expanded and I know understand the full process of what goes into to making a magazine (from the research and planning, first draft and final product) I now understand how in depth the process really is.
My knowledge in the technologies I have used such as Photoshop have increased significantly, looking back to my prelim the basic layout, editing and precision that I used in comparison to my final product I can definitely see that it is to a much higher standard. Using tools such as the ‘magnetic lasso’ to cut out images and using the grid to get precise measurements has enabled me to achieve a really professional looking final product.  I also feel due to my practice and deeper understanding of basic editing tools I am now much more efficient when it comes to simple tasks such as inserting and editing different layers; this is something that during my preliminary task I found quite difficult.

I also feel my knowledge and understanding of the magazine media industry has significantly improved, I feel this understanding and knowledge came from the vast amount of research I did into existing successful magazines and how they appeal/attract a certain audience and genre of music for example through how they challenge or conform to different conventions. I feel I also developed this knowledge during the drafting process of my magazine and receiving feedback from my peers meant that I could improve my work and broaden my understanding of how a successful magazine would be produced.

I think a key example of the progression I have made since my preliminary task is comparing my prelim contents page and final contents page. The preliminary task was a very brief process and hardly much thought went into what I produced, there were no precise measurements made and it was extremely simple. The images for my prelim were taken in minutes and not much thought went into the costume, style or poses that my model did in relation to the magazine's genre and target audience. In contrast to this, looking at my final contents page and the depth of detail in what the magazine contains and the precise placements of the image, subheadings and contents information, it makes it much easier for the reader to use and is much more aesthetically pleasing to look at.  

Evaluation Draft Question 6

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

Editing Technology/Software:

Computer:  For the majority of the process when constructing my magazine I used the computers at school during lesson time, study periods and working after school. I felt more comfortable working on the computers at school rather than working from home on my laptop and the school computers are of much better quality that the hardware I have to use at home (they are equipped with HD screens), I managed my time wisely at school giving myself enough time to complete the magazine.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended: This is the editing software I used throughout the process of constructing my magazine on the school computers. When starting the preliminary task I wasn’t a confident user of Photoshop, but after lots of practice I have developed my skills and have used the software to my advantage, editing and creating my final product to the best of my ability.

Microsoft Word 2007: I used Word to write up my double page spread article, it gave me the chance to correct any spelling errors and edit my article with ease before inserting it into the Photoshop document; it also enabled me to keep a word count and structure my writing before inserting it into my magazine.

Paint: I used paint quite frequently, especially when print screening any work I had done and when producing my ‘Fashion & Costume’ post, I had used Paint a lot before in the past, due to this I was able to use it efficiently to present particular stages of my work.

Presentation Software:

Blogger: I used blogger throughout the process of constructing my magazine; I documented all stages of my coursework on my blog. Before this course I hadn’t used blogger before, now I have learnt how to use it properly, in presenting all my work from research, drafting, feedback, final product and now my evaluation. I feel it has been a great piece of software to use to present all my work throughout my course.

Animoto: I used this video creator in the early stages of this process to produce a pitch to present to my peers. I had never used Animoto before, but I found it so easy to use and it presented all my ideas really effectively, giving a great visual representation of my work.

Twitter: I posted some of my photographs on Twitter to get feedback from my friends and peers, it proved to be useful as my friends and ‘followers’ on Twitter would be part of the target audience for my magazine; so their feedback was very useful.

Flickr: After taking my images I uploaded them to Flickr, this created a ‘feed’ that I was able to post on my blog and allowed my peers to view the pictures in high definition and with ease.

Internet (Internet Explorer and Google Chrome): The internet was a vital part of my research, collecting images, magazine covers and information  helped me along the process in developing my ideas into a finished product.
e.g www.uktribes.com
      www.i-donline.com
      www.lookbook.nu

SlideShare: I used SlideShare during the research stage of this process, it enabled me to upload powerpoints of work I had created analysing magazine covers so it could be read and viewed with ease on my blog.

Practical/Hardware Technology:

Canon EOS 1000D (camera): This is my own personal camera that I used to take all of my photographs (cover, contents and double page spread), as it is a high quality and credible camera I feel that I got the best quality pictures possible. As it is my own camera, I already had good skills in photography so I was confident in my skills prior to shooting my images and I knew the certain settings that my camera needed to be on, the framing, use of flash etc.

Lighting: I used two soft lighting boxes to create the prefect ‘bright’ and ‘stark’ lighting for my photographs, these helped me to achieve great lighting and enhanced my model’s facial features. They also helped to eliminate any shadows and created more precise and high-quality images.

Evaluation Draft Question 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience age range is 16-24, so it ranges between older teenagers and young adults of both genders, I designed my magazine in a way that will attract this specific type of readership and using both a male and female on the cover meant that it would not become too gender focused and would appeal to both the male and female target audience as I feel that having just a female model on the cover would attract more of a male audience and could end up conforming Laura Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, which would not be appropriate for my magazine genre or target audience.  The very basic mono-tonal colour scheme (black and white) used throughout my magazine also meant that my magazine would attract both a male and female audience as it is simplistic and minimalistic which suits the genre of the magazine, the band featured on the cover and the ‘indie/alternative’ target audience I am aiming DWNLD at.

The initial part of the magazine that the reader would see if it were to be placed on a magazine shelf in a shop is the masthead; this is because it is positioned at the top of the magazine meaning it would be visible on a shelf. The font I used (Innovation) is bold and clear yet it has an unusual italic edge to it, this means that readers will form a ‘brand recognition’ in relation to this type of font and the magazine itself. I used a similar font style to magazines i-D, Wonderland and Dazed & Confused; they are all bold and therefore hard to miss, they also share the same audience as my magazine so I can be assured it will appeal to the correct audience.

The models I used on my cover are dressed in the same style as my target audience are interested in, creating a blog post prior to taking my photos meant I was able to do some research into where my target audience like to shop and the current trends they were wearing (UK Tribes research), I then had the chance to plan out their costumes prior to the shoot to ensure it would attract the correct audience. My final cover features both the male and female members of the band; both in juxtaposition to each other (in relation to their poses). Both of their personalities are clearly shown on the cover which attracts the audience well, as they are a new band readers will see the bold image on the cover and will want to find out more. George is presented as the more serious member of the group, ‘moodily’ looking directly at the camera and addressing the audience with a rather intriguing expression on his face, whereas Ellie is presented as playful with an attitude and her winking facial expression contributions to her outgoing personality; which attracts the readers.

On my contents page I decided to use an image where both models are directly looking at the audience, again the grabs the reader’s attention and is one of the main focus points of the page, Ellie’s blue eyes and red lipstick are very appealing to readers and again draw the audience further in. Using clear and concise subheadings and columns on my contents page created a symmetrical page with a minimalistic and simplistic style that my audience could read with ease, shortly summarising each feature with a suitably vague sentence leaving them wanting to know more e.g. ’Are you having a laugh? TEED’s Orlando Higginbottom certainly is…’

When writing the article for my double page spread it was important to get syntax and grammar correct as any spelling mistakes for example could alienate my audience and create a bad name for the magazine, however it was still important to get the right balance between formality and syntax, as making my article too informal and too much use of colloquial language wouldn’t suit the genre of my magazine or the band, however making my article too formal may mean that readers may not be able to understand what they are reading and again could alienate them/put them off buying the magazine again.

Evaluation Draft Question 4

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

The audience for my magazine would be young male and female adults aged 16-24 with a keen interest in the latest upcoming music within the indie/alternative music genre and the latest fashion, style and future/current ‘trends’. As my magazine will be published monthly I decided to go for a higher end price of £3.99, I feel that the target audience I am aiming my magazine at will be happy to pay this higher end price as the content of the magazine is good quality and it won’t be full of ‘gossip’ columns about celebrities as plenty of existing magazines like to do. The audience I am aiming my magazine at prefer to set themselves aside from the mainstream pop genre of magazines and my magazine would cater to the smaller ‘niche’ market of alternative fans (which is currently fast growing into a successful and credible music genre).  The readers would be interested in artists and bands within this specific music genre such as: The xx, Jessie Ware, Disclosure, Crystal Castles, SBTRKT and foals. All of those listed feature on the magazine’s contents page and would appeal my target audience’s ‘niche’ and alternative music taste. DWNLD magazine readers will have a significant interest in the latest and upcoming trends/styles within the music and fashion industry, although my magazine is a primarily music based media product, it also relies heavily on style and fashion to appeal to its ‘alternative’ audience

DWNLD would appeal to the ‘alternative’ audience as it is similar to existing magazines such as i-D, Dazed & Confused, Wonderland and POP. I feel I have styled the models on the cover, contents and double page spread to fit in with the ‘indie/alternative’ genre of the magazine and readership it will attract. The bold and flawless photography style achieves the ‘indie/alternative’ look eloquently and is very similar to the style of i-D magazine and Wonderland, making the decision to brand each issue with a tagline (The Influential Issue) similar to i-D and Wonderland also helped to significantly attract my target audience as the suitably vague tagline of ‘The Influential Issue’ would interest my readers in wanting to find out more about the content of the magazine and why it was branded as ‘influential’. Again, using the increasingly popular, stylish and bold photography style of Richardson and Vauthier helped me to achieve this ‘indie/alternative’ style and will help attract the specific/niche audience for my magazine.

Evaluation Draft Question 3

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

I think the best media institution to distribute my magazine would be Conde Nast Publications. As they already distribute a large portfolio of trusted magazines such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Wired I feel they would be suitable and beneficial for my magazine. Conde Nast is said to be the originator of ‘lifestyle’ magazines and base themselves on class and style rather than attracting the largest readership possible and I feel that my magazine ‘DWNLD’ would be distributed well by the institution partly for this reason alone, the fact that they produce and distribute magazines based on their style and not for the main purpose of generating a large readership is brilliant for my magazine and fits in well with the indie/alternative genre of my magazine with subdivisions of fashion and culture to be aimed at both sexes aged 16-24. Conde Nast is yet to distribute a music magazine and therefore I think this is a good opportunity for them to choose to distribute my magazine ‘DWNLD’ as it will open up a new market and genre of magazine into their already successful portfolio of lucrative magazines.

I would distribute the magazine in the original ‘tangible’ way i.e. on magazine stands in shops and including postage options for subscribers. I also think a really successful way to distribute and publish my magazine would be online on apps for example, I think this would be a great way to distribute my magazine as technology is so advanced and the audience I am aiming my magazine at would benefit from this accessible way of distribution; particularly because my target audience (16-24) would be familiar with the technology to access the magazine with ease.

Pricing my magazine at £3.99 (which is a higher end price for most music magazines) is also another reason as to why I think Conde Nast would be a suitable publishing house for my magazine. They already distribute high-end fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and I believe that my magazine (as a high-end music magazine) would be best suited to be distributed by this publication for its well established ‘high-end’ notoriety in publishing and distribution. This would also reflect well on my magazine if it were to be distributed by an institution such as Conde Nast as they are a credible publishing house and new readers would view my magazine just as credible if it were to be published and distributed by the same institution as world-wide successful fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

Evaluation Draft Question 2

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

During the research and planning stages of this project, the audience research & profile and band profile were very significant in making sure I represented a particular social group. It gave me a clear indication of the type of audience that would buy my magazine and therefore had a huge impact on the genre and style of my overall magazine and band. After doing important research on UK Tribes I made the decision for my magazine to represent the social group of ‘indie scenesters’  and from this vital information I began to make decisions on what genre of music my band/artist would play and the style that my magazine would use to reflect this particular social group. Choosing a band that includes both a male and female was a decision I made as I wanted to ensure it appealed to the male and female audience that I was aiming my magazine at (male and female aged 16-24). Although the models used in my magazine were the same age as me (16-17) I felt that although they did not look their age (in fact older), they represented the style of my magazine brilliantly. Their flawless, bold and strong looks helped to reflect the research I did on photographers (Richardson and Vauthier) and emulated the same style as my main style model (i-D magazine). The image I chose to use on my front cover also reflected this style in particular as the male and female are both stood in strong poses, although it does challenge the convention of using a long shot (rather than mid) I think the image is striking and in terms of appearance/aesthetics works really well in relation to the particular social group I am aiming my magazine at. The costume I dressed my models in also helped to represent the particular social group I was aiming ‘DWNLD’ at, their all black clothing and bold red lipstick used on model Ellie helped to highlight the social group of ‘indie scenesters’ I would be aiming the magazine at. Dressing both models in black skinny jeans and plain clothing represented them in the non-materialistic ‘laid back’ manner of the social group I wished to represent, although they still conform to the odd fashion statement (red lipstick) in juxtaposition with the laid back ‘dishevelled’ hairstyles which sets them apart from most cover stars that spend hours in hair and make-up reflecting a glamorous style that would most definitely not appeal to the social group of ‘indie scenesters’ that my magazine represents. The models used in my magazine are represented in a good light by the social group I am aiming the magazine at, they are attractive, laid back and ‘cool’- a band that I feel can be idolised by many and reflect well on my magazine.

As said before the influence of Richardson’s and Vauthier’s photography heavily influenced the outcome of my images and final product. I took into account the framing, lighting and camerawork of their shots and really incorporated their similar style into my work. When directing my models I took ideas from their work to achieve the same bold style with harsh lighting, one that is very popular within the media industry today. I think using this style of photography helped to represent the particular social group of ‘indie scenesters’ as it is bold, strong and stylish- something that I feel was reflected well in my magazine and I believe the images had a significant contribution to its style.

Evaluation Draft Question 1

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

During the research and planning stage of this project I took various style models (i-D, Wonderland and Dazed & Confused in particular) and looked at their conventions, page layouts and graphology. To achieve a similar final product to the style models I looked at I mainly focused of the genre of my magazine (indie/alternative) and the type of audience I would aim it at (male and females 16-24). i-D magazine in particular, was a huge inspiration for the style and graphology of my front cover, researching and analysing their bold and unusual covers inspired me, the lack of cover lines and detail on the covers let the strong images they use speak for themselves, this was something I kept in mind when taking my images for my magazine and researching photographers and their style that I wanted to incorporate was important at this stage, as was getting the ‘right’ image for my front cover in order to achieve the same conventions as i-D magazine. The decision to use i-D magazine’s issue tag line e.g. ‘The back to the future issue’ and ‘The pick me up issue’ was a decision made when producing my final front cover, I felt the page was lacking a certain suitably vague tag line which would really brand my magazine and what it would include. I feel using the tag line ‘The influential issue’ fitted my magazine and the band cover stars (Influxx) perfectly and helped me to emulate i-D’s style successfully. Looking at ELLE magazine and the difference between their subscriber and general release covers also helped me to do more research into minimalist and simplistic magazine conventions that I felt fit my magazine best. Researching stylish magazine covers such as Esquire, Dazed & Confused, Wonderland, V and Numero that challenged to conventions of a normal magazine cover also gave me lots of inspiration on how I would incorporate the popular minimalistic style they so eloquently use. Using an example of a minimalistic DPS in Wonderland magazine helped me in presenting the double page spread in my magazine and the particular graphology/layout that I intended to use which would precisely emulate my genre and style of the band (Influxx) best.

Researching photographers had a huge impact on the way my final magazine looked. Terry Richardson’s work in particular helped me create something similar to a real media product. Looking at the cover he shot of Rihanna for the Rolling Stone magazine and how he had incorporated the ‘golden spiral’ rule to capture an eye catching and flawless image of the cover star and was something I kept in mind when taking and choosing the images to but put in my magazine as it was important to me to keep an aesthetically pleasing looking throughout in order to be cohesive and create a ‘real’ media product for my intended audience, genre (indie/alternative) and band (Influxx). Looking at Richardson’s and Vauthier’s style of photography (their camerawork, framing and lighting) was a huge influence on the success of my pictures and lead me to really think about the framing and lighting I would use before even starting to shoot my images. This also led onto planning the costume and props that I would use within my shoot, producing a blog post on the fashion and costume that I wanted to dress my cover stars in helped me to plan the success of the shoot and reflect the genre and style of my magazine/band really well.

Although I challenged the normal conventions of a busy cover page, my masthead is conventional of real magazines; it is the largest piece of text on the page, the first thing a customer would see if it would be placed of a shop shelf, it is easy to read and most importantly it is bold and clear. My choice of title ‘DWNLD’ (read as ‘download’) also reflects my magazine. Inspiration for the title of my magazine was taken from the band ’Sbtrkt’ (subtract) and I feel it really represents the music industry today as most must is streamed online and downloaded from software such as iTunes, SoundCloud and Spotify. Using a slanted ‘electronica’ font for my masthead (Innovation font) also helped to reflect the genre of my magazine and the bands/artists that it will feature. Black and white became the official colour scheme I used throughout, this was matched alongside the costume I dressed the band featured in my magazine and the simplistic/minimalistic conventions taken from style models. The stark contrast of the black on the white against the bold images used within my magazine also helped to make the colour scheme work really well and helped me to create a cohesive magazine style across my front cover, contents and double page spread.

Deciding to challenge the convention of having different artists featuring on my contents page (the same as my front cover and double page spread) was made after taking some shots of a different artist (Jessie Rose) to feature on the contents page. After taking these shots and placing the image on the contents page I came to the realisation that it did not conform to the particular ‘minimalistic’ and ‘simplistic’ layout that I was aiming for. The image of the new artist stood out on the page too much and started to alter the overall simple layout of the page, after discussion and feedback from my peers I decided not to add an image of another artist on the contents page and in its place I put a ‘Records Of the Month’ column and an ‘Albums Of the Month’ column. This decision to challenge the normal convention and forms of a real media product is something I am happy with, I think having the main, bold image of ‘Influxx’ at the top of the page works really well in creating a successful media product, with a modern day edge that challenges some forms and conventions of outstanding media products; giving the magazine its own USP.

Contents Page Update

After taking the feedback into account for my contents page i took some images to feature my artist 'Jessie Rose' on the page, however i don't think another image will fit in well on this page, it stands out too much and doesn't blend it like i hoped it would. Therefore i don't think i will make the decision to put another image on my contents page.

Updates

This week i have been making small amendments to my cover page, contents and double page spread. I have also taken some images of the artist featuring on my contents page (Jessie Rose) which i am going to incorporate into my contents page.
I have also been making adjustments to my article that will feature on my double page spread.
As the deadline for the final cover page, contents and double page spread is tomorrow i feel that i have made the necessary adjustments from my feedback and i am confident that my final piece will be complete to the best of my ability

Meg Kiely's photostream

Meg Kiely's photostream on Flickr.

Contents page images- Jessie Rose

Re-thinking my cover page

After working on my cover page, i am still not 100% happy with what i have produced. I have decided to try something different with the graphology on the page (image and text in particular as these were the main two things i am not completely content with). Below is an updated version of the cover above, its not a final cover that i have made a decision to put forward as my final piece, but something that i have experiemented with to try and found out why i am not 100% happy with my cover page and if this could be changed.

Update

After looking at i-D magazine covers this week i have decided to take part of the convention of their magazines which is naming each issue e.g 'THE LIVIN' LOUD ISSUE' or 'THE DEFINE YOURSELF ISSUE' i have incorporated this into my magazine and have named mine 'THE INFLUENTIAL ISSUE' as i feel this relates to the direct pull quote on the cover page.

Weekly Plan

So far this week i have made adjustments to my first draft (front cover, contents and double page spread) with the feedback i have recieved from my teachers and peers in mind.
Next week i hope to take some more images of my models (Influxx) and test out a few different and new shots, with an outfit and location change. I was thinking of making the location more 'street' style to relate to where the band originated from in London (Wandsworth). I also need to get some images of a different band to feature on my contents page, i still haven't decided who the models for that will be or what their style and genre of music will be like, but i will definitely keep the current genre of music for Influxx in mind when planning the new additional band.
After taking some more pictures i will incorporate them into my updated draft versions and make some more tweaks/changes before the deadline of my final piece in a couple of weeks.