Overall I have learnt to use softwares to enhance my magazine such as Photo Shop. This enabled my magazine to look less simple causing it to be more eye catching.
Thursday, 25 February 2016
6) What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing This Product?
PhotoShop
Throughout the process of constructing my product I used PhotoShop to create the full thing. I also developed my skills by manipulating images such as brightening colours of clothing. I learnt how to use many things on PhotoShop such as changing the saturation of an image. Using this online application had a few flaws as I was unable to access it at home. The application itself is also very complex and caused confusion a few times but I was able to overcome these problems.Internet
The Internet played a huge part in constructing my product as I used it for all my research. I was able to find existing indie music magazines to work from to develop my creation. This was very helpful as my magazine would lack a few conventions causing it to be unsuccessful. I also used the Internet for online websites such as:
- Prezi
This website was new to me therefore I learnt how to collaborate the information to present my work in a more fun and unusual way. Prezi was very challenging and difficult to get used to which was a problem I faced, unfortunately I only used this website once for my blog but the I was still able to post proof of my experience using it.
- Survey Monkey
Survey Monkey was a brilliant website as it contributed to the creation of my product a lot. This is because it enabled me to set my own questions for others to answer. The website provided a mixture of different ways to ask a question such as tick boxes, bar graphs and pie charts. The questions I set provided me with a bunch of information about my audience which allowed me to create a magazine to fit my audience's needs. Using this I learnt to save time by sending a singular email to a group of people at once. Survey Monkey did not cause any problems as I had my own login details so I did not lose any unfinished work.
- Blogger
Blogger is an online document provided by Google where I have posted all my work. Blogger has taught me how to create a presentable blog packed with information and specific detail. I had no problems with this document and was able to access it on any device as it is run by Google. By having a username and password I knew that my work is secure.
5) How Did You Attract/Address Your Audience?
To attract my audience I used bright bold colours on my front cover such as different shades of yellow. This is because it will be the most eye-catching magazine on the shelf when placed next to others. I decided to use the conventional plug to attract the audience by creating a competition. The words 'win' and 'tickets' are written in bold; attracting the readers attention. Once they notice that purchasing the magazine could give them a chance to win a competition; they immediately want to buy it. I created a survey for my audience to get to know their interests, the results showed that most of my audience are female therefore I used a male model for the main image. The model would portray a teen heart-throb to my audience, as he would be a popular artist; the image of him would attract his fans which would increase my audience.
To address my audience I needed to use my research to see my audience's interests. I used their favourite bands and promoted their events on my front cover, as shown in the image blow:
To address my audience I needed to use my research to see my audience's interests. I used their favourite bands and promoted their events on my front cover, as shown in the image blow:
4) Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?
By creating a survey I was able to find important things about my audience. I had found that most were female and all were between 14 - 18 years of age. This was great as most indie music is targeted for teenagers. The genre indie does not aim towards a particular gender so, luckily, my audience is a mixture of each gender.
Through research I came across NME's reader profile where I could collect information from them as their genre is indie like mine. By taking note of this, I found out the basic information about the complete genre's audience from gender to average age. NME's reader profile also stated what devices their audience use and how they access music. I had taken this idea for my own reader profile so I could get to know my audience more. By doing this, I could make my magazine more interesting to fit my audience's needs.
My Reader Profile
Existing Reader Profile
2) How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?
Through research I have found that models on existing music magazines that the artists create an uncaring look as their facial expressions are serious. It is unusual for an artist to smile for the cover image.
I have used an indie stereotype for my magazine through clothing. I insisted the model to wear baggy clothing to create a careless look enabling him to fit with the indie criteria; connecting to my audience. After taking my survey, I found that 100% of my audience were ages 14 to 18 and mostly female. I decided it would be a good idea to use a male model to act as a teen heart throb for my audience making my magazine more approachable.
I have used an indie stereotype for my magazine through clothing. I insisted the model to wear baggy clothing to create a careless look enabling him to fit with the indie criteria; connecting to my audience. After taking my survey, I found that 100% of my audience were ages 14 to 18 and mostly female. I decided it would be a good idea to use a male model to act as a teen heart throb for my audience making my magazine more approachable.
1) In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop Or Challenge Forms And Conventions Of Real Media Products?
My Magazine Cover
Masthead
My masthead follows the conventions of existing indie music magazines such as NME. This is because they tend to use bright colours hence I used the colour white for my masthead. The colour of this convention is very important as it is the first thing to catch people's attention as the magazine sits on the shelf. The font is usually bold for a indie magazine, I noticed this as I researched existing products. Luckily I did this as my masthead started off as a thin font which was hardly noticeable, this wouldn't have been successful as it was not following the conventions of existing products. I was able to change this through PhotoShop to create a bold font which stands out. The capitalisation of the font used represents maturity which also enables the audience to read the masthead without confusion. Many indie magazines vary on their masthead capitalisation as some are fully capitalised whereas some are lower case. I decided using my audience research that I did not want a font too childish for my magazine.
Main Image
My main image follows the conventions of existing indie music magazines as I have used one person to fill the full page. I had found through research that existing indie magazines had used a medium close up as their main image. I had developed from this as I had taken many images which were potential main images, I had used a variety of shots to close ups to long shots. As a result I decided to go independently and use a long shot as my main image. Overall this was a great idea as the model was able to use the body language I demanded. The model's body language shows confidence which fits perfectly with the 'indie' (independent) genre. The models used for existing magazines are showing their true colours as they may be wearing unusual clothing or using rare body language which I have worked from. The model used is perfect for my target audience as he can be seen as a teen heart-throb as he fits with the age range of my audience.
Plug
My plug is used to give the audience a change to win a competition. This challenges other existing products as not many indie magazines use plugs for this manner. I have designed the plug to be bright yellow causing it to stand out from the page. I used PhotoShop to manipulate the image to create a border forcing it to stand out. It also catches the audience's attention as I have written the word 'win' and 'tickets' in bold which will increase the interest in my magazine.
Secondary Stories
Secondary stories are regularly placed on the side of the main image so that the reader does not get confused between the secondary stories and the main feature story. The selection of colours I have used follow the conventions of an existing indie product as I have used a bright colour; yellow, to contrast with a dark colour; black.
Feature Cover Story
My feature cover story follows the conventions of an existing magazine as I have used a name in bold. The name usually belongs to the person whom is the main image, which is what I have done. I have used a bright yellow border as bright yellow is within my chosen colour scheme.
Secondary Images
Through research I found that it is rare to see secondary images on an existing indie music magazine as they keep their magazines so simple whereas indie music magazine: NME are a little more complex. This particular magazine uses a secondary image on almost every magazine they publish. I took an interest to this and decided to follow this convention. I took note of the styles they created the secondary images such as the borders around them. The polaroid affect was popular (designing the image to look like a printed polaroid photograph) which inspired me to use this. As not many other indie magazines use this convention; it gave me the chance to challenge them.
Friday, 12 February 2016
Double Page Spread Drafts
Draft 1
Final Product
To improve my double page spread I rearranged the page and changed the choice of image to use as the background. I started with the background image and a secondary image but decided that I didn't particularly like the background image as it didn't give much information about the model which would have linked it to the story. I then experimented by using PhotoShop to expand the secondary image to make it the main image. In my opinion I disliked this idea a lot as the image lost focus and the colours merged with the the colour of the text. To improve this fault I looked for a landscape image such as this one. This worked well as it did not stretch when I edited it. I used PhotoShop to cut out a chair in the background which was overlapping the text. I also spaced out the title so that when the page folds in half; the title is still readable.
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