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

I have learnt a lot throughout the process of creating my media product:

.Technologies (As I have already expanded on in my earlier post) -Photography
                                                                                                  -Using Adobe Photoshop
                                                                                                  -Using Adobe InDesign
.I have learnt how to analyse music magazines and in which I have learnt to be more aware of design techniques used for different effects in music magazines, which has helped me a lot in designing my own music magazine, such as layout used to attract the readers- competitions, images, facing pages, straplines.
. I have learnt to manage my time better as we had to create the music magazine pages on a tight schedule.
.I have learnt how to carry out quantitative and qualitative research which has really helped me in designing my magazine. Through this I have learnt how to create a correct/helpful questionnaire that helped me in the researching process.

.I have learnt the importance of brand names and their connotations. This helped me a lot when creating my brand identity for my music magazine because I had to think about want my target audience would want in a brand- this is also was helped by my quantitative and qualitative research.



If I were to do this task again I would spend a little bit more time on editing my images, in Photoshop, for my music magazine as I do not believe that all of them were as professional as I would have liked however I had to move on due to the time constraints of the project. 
However apart from this I am very pleased with my finished music magazine. I think it has a professional quality to it and that it would attract my target audience just like a real music magazine would.

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

Photography:
 
-I have learnt a lot, during the process of making my music magazine, about photography such as,
. The setting of the photo is very important to the image of the artists and you need to find the balance of looking good and representing your target audience.
. The position of the sun is again, very important as you either get a silhouetted person or too much exposure on the faces of the band which doesn’t look very professional.
. The angle in which you take the picture- I found early on the just taking at picture looking straight onto the subject makes a very boring photo, as I was looking for something different to stand out in my magazine. I found that taking a picture from a lower angle made a more interesting photo. Here are some angled photos a have taken in the process of making my magazine:

Adobe Photoshop:
-Once I had taken my photos I realised that to add a professional touch to them I would have to use 'Adobe Photoshop' to make them look more interesting.

Here are some 'Before and After' shots:
. For this picture I learnt how to make the image look vintage, which fits in with my magazine and makes it more visually pleasing.
. I did this using the Adjustments- Curves tool. A had to maually adjust the colour curves and the brightness of the image to give it this look.



For this picture I used several techniques:
. The blur tool- I used this to make the band members stand out more and look more professional.
. I changed the contrast of the image to darken it a bit in order to make their facial features stand out more as the angle of the sun bleached them so I had to correct this.
. I also had to lengthen the photo as it did not fill the magazine page. The photo on its own obviously looks like the top part has been repeated but when I added the masthead it is not noticeable.



Adobe InDesign:
- As I had never used 'Adobe InDesign' I had to learn everything from scratch.
. I learnt how to get to grips with the design techniques such as the 'grid design' which was blue boxes that had to fit your text or images and fit with the others on the page and arrange them in front or back so they could be seen or didn't overlap. At first I found this a challenge but by the end I had got to grips with it.
.I also learnt the values of using different fonts in InDesign, as some fonts did not look professional enough to be in a music magazine. So I had to select the fonts on InDesign very carefully.







 

 

Who would be the audience for your media product and how did you attract/address this audience?

My target audience for my music magazine is:
.Females
.17-25 years old
.Like indie/alternative music

This is much like my target audience at the beginning of my planning however I have changed the gender to female instead of mixed as I believe my house style colours of light blue and pale pink would appeal more to females than males.

I appeal to my target audience through a lot of aspects of my magazine:

. The house style colours- as I have already said the colours are a light blue and pink which would appeal more to females. It also appeals to my age range as I have not used really bright colours to appeal to really young people (11-15) but toned down pale colours to show the magazine is the next step up from teen music magazines showing the reader you will be getting the best music from the magazine.
.The competition/giveaways advertised on the front cover willl entice my target audience because they would want to be in an issue of the magazine.
 . The images used- As I have said from my earlier post, the artists shown in my images portray a younger generation, an indie style and a musical interest.
.The mode of address- I use a lot of exclamation marks to excite the younger readers.
. The Masthead- As the masthead features a mix tape it appeals to people who like the retro style.

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

IPC Media deals with over 60 brands which engage with 26 million UK adults- almost two thirds of UK women and over 40% of UK men. Some of their brands include 'Women's Weekly', 'TV Times', 'Horse and Hounds' and 'NME'.

IPC has four divisions devoted to different aspects of the company: IPC Connect, IPC Inspire, IPC Southbank and IPC Advertising:

IPC Connect- deals with the mass market women's division.

IPC Inspire- deals with men's division

IPC Southbank- deals with the upmarket women's division focusing on Fashion, Women's Lifestyle and Home Interest.

IPC Advertising- deals with advertising

Which of IPC's brands come close to addressing my target audience?

There are not many brands that IPC publish that are close to my target audience as the majority is aimed at the older population. The brands that cover my target audience the most is 'NME' as it is a music magazine that targets a median age of 24 which, although is at the higher end of my target audience, is the closest IPC has. The other is 'Teen Now'- a gossip magazine for the target age range of 11-17 which is a little lower than mine but is close which shows that IPC do reach the younger audiences that my magazine is aimed at.

The music magazines IPC publish:

Uncut- is a monthly rock music magazine aimed at men aged 25-45. Price £4.80

NME- is a weekly 'new music' music magazine aimed at 16-24 year olds (mixed). Price £2.40



Are they similar to my music magazine?

NME magazine, as I have said above, has a target audience most like mine and is aimed at a mixed gender target audience. Also the price range for NME is much cheaper than Uncut showing that it is for a younger audience like my magazine.

http://www.ipcmedia.com/



 

Bauer Media has over 80 brands which reach over 19 million people in the UK every week. Some of their brands include: '4Music', 'Bird Watching', 'Closer', 'EMPIRE' and 'Planet Rock'

Which of Bauer's brands come close to addressing my target audience?

There are a lot of brands that would address my target audience: 'KERRANG!', 'More!', 'Heat' and 'ZOO'. All of these brands reach a high percentage of 15-24 year olds which is close to my target audience however 'KERRANG!' and 'ZOO'  have a very male orientated readership and my target audience is more female based but 'Heat' and 'More!' reaches over 80% of their female readership.

The music magazines Bauer publish:

MOJO- A monthly magazine, with high quality photography that is for 'extremely passionate music consumers'. The magazine is aimed at 15-34 year old men.

Q- A monthly magazine which features 'the biggest stars in rock and roll and brings the most exciting new artists'. The magazine is aimed at an age range of 15-34 year old men.

'KERRANG!'- A weekly magazine which appeals to the younger audiences looking for an alternative genre of music. The magazine is again aimed at 15-34 year old with a mixed gender target readership.

Are they similar to my music magazine?

'KERRANG!' is the magazine most similar to my target audience as it reaches my set age range and gender however 'Q' and 'MOJO' also come close to fulfilling my target audience as they have the same age range.

http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/
 

Which magazine would I choose to publish my magazine?

I would choose Bauer to publish my magazine as they reach my target audience more through their music magazines than IPC (Although IPC reach more women through their magazines they are of the older population) and therefore would have a bigger market for selling my magazine, however my magazine would also bring a new market to the company as it would be targeting mostly females aged 17-24 interested in the retro/Indie genre which is not a well published genre at the moment so would definitely bring something new to the market. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My artists represent:

.Females
 
.Everyday People- the clothes they are wearing do not suggest any designer brands or anything extravagant which helps the audience to relate to the artists.
.Indie- The setting of the photographs suggests something different and individual bands as they are outside and not in a studio.
.Teens- Early Twenties- from their age and the types of clothes they are wearing and the positions they are sat in- you do not normally see adults sitting on the floor. 
.Musicians- they are featured with a guitar which shows that they make their own music.
.Retro- they are featured with a 'Lambretta' in the background showing that they are a bit retro and like older things.

This is the same social group as my audience as I believe making the artists the same as the readers make the artists more relatable and therefore sell-able as more people would like to listen to their music and read about them.

This representation is quite similar to real music magazines such as 'Kerrang!' or 'Q' as most of their issues feature artists in ordinary looking clothes and are in the age range of 20-30 (see right) however my music magazine brings something different to the music magazine world as I am showing the bands instruments- this is because they are a new band and I want readers to know as much as possible about them to get them interested. I also show the retro theme which is not usually seen in music magazines for younger audiences which I think will make my magazine new and refreshing for younger cultures and make them interested in the contents of the magazine.

 

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? (TWO- PAGE FEATURE ARTICLE)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? (CONTENTS PAGE)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product? (FRONT COVER)

 

Finished Music Magazine Pages (Feature Article)

Two-Page Feature Article:

 

 

 

 

Finished Music Magazine Page (Contents)

Contents Page:

 

 

 

 

Finished Music Magazine Page (Front Cover)

Front Cover: