Friday, 18 March 2011
Monday, 7 March 2011
Evaluation Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
When I place my preliminary task beside my main task I can see how far I have come in the way I go about my work. The idea of the preliminary task was to get used to how Photoshop and other functions work, so I did not make it the best I could have as I didn't know how to do some things then that I can do now. You can see that before hand I used a lot of colour in the way I designed my preliminary task however after researching other magazines, I noticed that the majority had white backgrounds. This may be due to printing costs or simply because white is the colour that looks the best so that a picture can stand out more. As well as this, I noticed that using white allows you to use a lot more colours than on a coloured back ground. One of the main things I noticed when creating my music magazine was the length of time it took me to do different things. When creating the school magazine, it did not take very long as I simply took pictures of other class mates whilst at school and then quickly uploaded them when we got back to the class room. It was a lot different for my music magazine. I had to find a model that would suit my music genre and article I wrote for it, and from previous posts you can see how indecisive I was as in total I used four different models. I also realised how hard it was to get the right shot. After taking a set of photographs and showing them to my teacher and other friends, I realised that they were not as good as I thought. My original plan was to do one photo shoot, however the reality is, you need either one shoot with hundreds of photos, or a variety of different shoots with different people and different mise en scene.
Another difference in the creation of my magazine compared to the school magazine was the software that I used. For the preliminary task, I purely used Photoshop as it was simple and easy
to use and edit pictures. As well as this, InDesing was not something I was aware of until after I had finished the magazine. Using Photoshop for the first task proved helpful to me when creating the music magazine as I was able to do more things and experiment with different things such as lighting effects and the changing of colours.
There are some similarities with the magazines that I have produced. Both have an appropriate amount of cover lines on that would encourage the target audience to pick up and read. As well as this, the mode of address is similar to my music magazine. Both are informal as they are aimed at the younger generation. My music magazine is aimed at the younger generation as well as the older generation so the use of colloquialism and slang was used in my double page spread. If i had to have created a double page article for my school magazine, I would have used the same sort of language I did with my music magazine so as to relate to the reader and make them feel that they were part of the magazine.
Overall, I feel that I have learnt a lot since creating my school magazine. I have managed to develop my computer skills by using different a different computer than I have at home and also develop my skills and gain new knowledge of software that I have never used before. I have also learnt how to connect with the reader more by carrying out extensive research. The research allowed me to have an insight to what my target audience is like and how they are categorised within society.
When I place my preliminary task beside my main task I can see how far I have come in the way I go about my work. The idea of the preliminary task was to get used to how Photoshop and other functions work, so I did not make it the best I could have as I didn't know how to do some things then that I can do now. You can see that before hand I used a lot of colour in the way I designed my preliminary task however after researching other magazines, I noticed that the majority had white backgrounds. This may be due to printing costs or simply because white is the colour that looks the best so that a picture can stand out more. As well as this, I noticed that using white allows you to use a lot more colours than on a coloured back ground. One of the main things I noticed when creating my music magazine was the length of time it took me to do different things. When creating the school magazine, it did not take very long as I simply took pictures of other class mates whilst at school and then quickly uploaded them when we got back to the class room. It was a lot different for my music magazine. I had to find a model that would suit my music genre and article I wrote for it, and from previous posts you can see how indecisive I was as in total I used four different models. I also realised how hard it was to get the right shot. After taking a set of photographs and showing them to my teacher and other friends, I realised that they were not as good as I thought. My original plan was to do one photo shoot, however the reality is, you need either one shoot with hundreds of photos, or a variety of different shoots with different people and different mise en scene.
Another difference in the creation of my magazine compared to the school magazine was the software that I used. For the preliminary task, I purely used Photoshop as it was simple and easy
to use and edit pictures. As well as this, InDesing was not something I was aware of until after I had finished the magazine. Using Photoshop for the first task proved helpful to me when creating the music magazine as I was able to do more things and experiment with different things such as lighting effects and the changing of colours.There are some similarities with the magazines that I have produced. Both have an appropriate amount of cover lines on that would encourage the target audience to pick up and read. As well as this, the mode of address is similar to my music magazine. Both are informal as they are aimed at the younger generation. My music magazine is aimed at the younger generation as well as the older generation so the use of colloquialism and slang was used in my double page spread. If i had to have created a double page article for my school magazine, I would have used the same sort of language I did with my music magazine so as to relate to the reader and make them feel that they were part of the magazine.
Overall, I feel that I have learnt a lot since creating my school magazine. I have managed to develop my computer skills by using different a different computer than I have at home and also develop my skills and gain new knowledge of software that I have never used before. I have also learnt how to connect with the reader more by carrying out extensive research. The research allowed me to have an insight to what my target audience is like and how they are categorised within society.
Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the creation of all of my magazine pieces, I have used a wide rang of technology in both hardware and software format. Without the use of technology I never would have been able to create what I have, and neither would other magazine industries for that matter! The first piece of technology that I
had to use for the project was a camera. Getting the right picture was imperative before creating the magazine. A picture can say a thousand words, so the idea is to insert the picture and then the rest would come together as and when. The cameras on the left are two that I used. The bottom one is my own digital camera with a 14.1 megapixel camera. The top one was my friends camera -way too expensive for me- with only a 10 megapixel camera. The first lot of photos that I produced shown here. I was happy with the quality of photos that were produced but after I decided that I wanted to change the magazine that I had originally produced, I had to get more photos. When taking pictures of my model Nick -cover model- I used his Nikon camera which is a 10 megapixel camera. I was again more than happy with the photographs that were produced and it was evident to me that regardless of the megapixel of the camera over 10 megapixel you still produce the same quality of photographs. Both cameras were simple to use and required a simple click of a button to take and then to simply remove the SD card and place it straight into the computer to retrieve the pictures.
The other piece of hardware that I used was computers. Although I use computers every day and you would think that I did not learn much, I did. I used Apple Mac computers
because they are the best computers to run the software that I used on. A similar machine that I am writing on now is pictured on the right hand side. The computers, were at first, difficult to use as I always use my Dell Inspiron laptop at home. I could not use a Mac all the time as they are at school. Both machines allow similar things, however at home the only thing I could do without complications was upload pictures that I had converted on the Mac, and also blog on the Internet. I prefer using the Apple Mac computers as they have all the software on them ready to use and are quick and efficient in what they do.
On terms of software I have used, there is a small picture on the left with the differe
nt icons that represent each programme. From top left to bottom right we have: Blogger, InDesign, Photoshop, Firefox Internet and Grab.
Blogger: this is a website on the Internet which allows anybody to keep a diary entry like website. I have used the blog website so as to keep all of my work in one place. It is easier to do that print a magazine and write everything out as you cannot lose any work unless you delete it yourself. With hand written things, work can get damaged and lost. Please find links on the headings to a Wikipedia page about them in more detail.
InDesign: This is the programme I used to create my double page spread. It is harder to use than Photoshop however easier to use to construct the spread. It allowed me to separate the page in to six columns so that I could follow the conventions of a magazine. As well as this I could move things around on the page appropriately without having to worry about selecting different layers. InDesign did prove hard to use at the start as I had been used to using Photoshop, but after playing around with it and help from other friends, I managed to produce what I have.
Photoshop: This programme was essential in the making of my magazine. Without it I would never have been able to produce the final product. It allowed my to do everything from edit photos by removing spots on people's skin, to changing the colour of the top somebody wears. Obviously there is a lot more you can do with Photoshop and I merely brushed the edges of the programme, but again, I am pleased with the results.
FireFox Internet: This is just the type of Internet browser. I could have used Safari, or even Internet Explorer which is what I had to use at home on my personal computer.
Grab Tool: This tool was extremely helpful in the production of my magazine. It meant that I could show small screen shots of pieces of work I have produced without uploading a whole picture and then highlighting the point. It is similar to a normal computers 'print screen' but with screens the size you choose to have.
This technology is different on a Dell laptop. Because the Adobe Series is so expensive -£400-£100o depending on what you get- I do not have it on my personal computer. This meant that I could not edit any photos at home. So, if I wanted to upload anything at home, I had
to make sure I saved the things I wanted in JPEG format on to a memory stick and then upload them at a later time. Some things that I needed when blogging at home meant that I had to take some 'screen grabs' using the laptop. To do this I had to lower my technology standards and use the simple key 'Print Screen' and then paste this in to the awful programme that is Paint. Although I did not like using Paint at home, I was able to produce some screen grabs.
I also used a website called dafont.com. It allowed me to browse through different fonts that I could potentially use for my project and download them. Using the simple fonts that are already uploaded on to the computer would have been alright to use, but in order to gain that extra bit of authenticity to my magazine, I wanted to jazz it up a bit by using a font that not many people would have seen before.
Throughout the creation of all of my magazine pieces, I have used a wide rang of technology in both hardware and software format. Without the use of technology I never would have been able to create what I have, and neither would other magazine industries for that matter! The first piece of technology that I
had to use for the project was a camera. Getting the right picture was imperative before creating the magazine. A picture can say a thousand words, so the idea is to insert the picture and then the rest would come together as and when. The cameras on the left are two that I used. The bottom one is my own digital camera with a 14.1 megapixel camera. The top one was my friends camera -way too expensive for me- with only a 10 megapixel camera. The first lot of photos that I produced shown here. I was happy with the quality of photos that were produced but after I decided that I wanted to change the magazine that I had originally produced, I had to get more photos. When taking pictures of my model Nick -cover model- I used his Nikon camera which is a 10 megapixel camera. I was again more than happy with the photographs that were produced and it was evident to me that regardless of the megapixel of the camera over 10 megapixel you still produce the same quality of photographs. Both cameras were simple to use and required a simple click of a button to take and then to simply remove the SD card and place it straight into the computer to retrieve the pictures.The other piece of hardware that I used was computers. Although I use computers every day and you would think that I did not learn much, I did. I used Apple Mac computers
because they are the best computers to run the software that I used on. A similar machine that I am writing on now is pictured on the right hand side. The computers, were at first, difficult to use as I always use my Dell Inspiron laptop at home. I could not use a Mac all the time as they are at school. Both machines allow similar things, however at home the only thing I could do without complications was upload pictures that I had converted on the Mac, and also blog on the Internet. I prefer using the Apple Mac computers as they have all the software on them ready to use and are quick and efficient in what they do.On terms of software I have used, there is a small picture on the left with the differe
nt icons that represent each programme. From top left to bottom right we have: Blogger, InDesign, Photoshop, Firefox Internet and Grab.Blogger: this is a website on the Internet which allows anybody to keep a diary entry like website. I have used the blog website so as to keep all of my work in one place. It is easier to do that print a magazine and write everything out as you cannot lose any work unless you delete it yourself. With hand written things, work can get damaged and lost. Please find links on the headings to a Wikipedia page about them in more detail.
InDesign: This is the programme I used to create my double page spread. It is harder to use than Photoshop however easier to use to construct the spread. It allowed me to separate the page in to six columns so that I could follow the conventions of a magazine. As well as this I could move things around on the page appropriately without having to worry about selecting different layers. InDesign did prove hard to use at the start as I had been used to using Photoshop, but after playing around with it and help from other friends, I managed to produce what I have.
Photoshop: This programme was essential in the making of my magazine. Without it I would never have been able to produce the final product. It allowed my to do everything from edit photos by removing spots on people's skin, to changing the colour of the top somebody wears. Obviously there is a lot more you can do with Photoshop and I merely brushed the edges of the programme, but again, I am pleased with the results.
FireFox Internet: This is just the type of Internet browser. I could have used Safari, or even Internet Explorer which is what I had to use at home on my personal computer.
Grab Tool: This tool was extremely helpful in the production of my magazine. It meant that I could show small screen shots of pieces of work I have produced without uploading a whole picture and then highlighting the point. It is similar to a normal computers 'print screen' but with screens the size you choose to have.
This technology is different on a Dell laptop. Because the Adobe Series is so expensive -£400-£100o depending on what you get- I do not have it on my personal computer. This meant that I could not edit any photos at home. So, if I wanted to upload anything at home, I had
to make sure I saved the things I wanted in JPEG format on to a memory stick and then upload them at a later time. Some things that I needed when blogging at home meant that I had to take some 'screen grabs' using the laptop. To do this I had to lower my technology standards and use the simple key 'Print Screen' and then paste this in to the awful programme that is Paint. Although I did not like using Paint at home, I was able to produce some screen grabs.I also used a website called dafont.com. It allowed me to browse through different fonts that I could potentially use for my project and download them. Using the simple fonts that are already uploaded on to the computer would have been alright to use, but in order to gain that extra bit of authenticity to my magazine, I wanted to jazz it up a bit by using a font that not many people would have seen before.
Evaluation Question 5
How did you attract/address your reader?
The first thing that someone would notice when looking at this magazine in the shop, would be the large cover image of my model Nick. For this instance you we will have to assume that Nick is a huge artist in the industry and that he has a huge fan base. If this was the case, then people seeing his picture on a popular magazine would make them want to have a look. On picking up the magazine, I would hope that my reader would read the pull quote on the front - 'All my life I dreamed of performing on the big stage, and here I am!' - and wonder what it was about thus making them buy it. Other cover lines on the front cover heightens the readers interest as I have included lots of different artists that relate to my genre and my target audience.
The use of the black box at the top of my magazine is another section of my magazine that would appeal to my reader. As you can see (above) I have placed mine with other magazines and they all look fairly similar. The notes at the top of the page are to add that extra bit of information to the magazine. The fact that this idea is used in most magazines proves that it works when making the reader buy the magazine. Because so many of them do this with their products, I followed this convention and hope that it will too attract my target audience. The lines 'Tears Tantrums and Tiaras' is a line I hope will attract my reader further as I do not actually say what it is about. You have to open the magazine further to find out the information that links with that cover line. When opening the magazine the reader would see more pictures and more stories thus making them buy the magazine.
Another way I have attracted my audience, as stated above, is the other use of cover lines. Adding popular artists names to the front of the magazine means that the audience would be more incline to purchase the magazine so that they can read about not just one person, but a variety of people. Some readers may not like my cover model, but may like Michael Buble or Rhianna. Without the cover lines, it makes my magazine focus primarily on Nick Woods entirely meaning the circulation would drop as not everyone in my target audience may like him.
Defining the audience was a tricky process when constructing all of the magazine as I have a mass target audience from teenagers to adults. Taking this into consideration, I feel that I have addressed my audience and attracted them well enough to encourage them to purchase my magazine.
The first thing that someone would notice when looking at this magazine in the shop, would be the large cover image of my model Nick. For this instance you we will have to assume that Nick is a huge artist in the industry and that he has a huge fan base. If this was the case, then people seeing his picture on a popular magazine would make them want to have a look. On picking up the magazine, I would hope that my reader would read the pull quote on the front - 'All my life I dreamed of performing on the big stage, and here I am!' - and wonder what it was about thus making them buy it. Other cover lines on the front cover heightens the readers interest as I have included lots of different artists that relate to my genre and my target audience.The use of the black box at the top of my magazine is another section of my magazine that would appeal to my reader. As you can see (above) I have placed mine with other magazines and they all look fairly similar. The notes at the top of the page are to add that extra bit of information to the magazine. The fact that this idea is used in most magazines proves that it works when making the reader buy the magazine. Because so many of them do this with their products, I followed this convention and hope that it will too attract my target audience. The lines 'Tears Tantrums and Tiaras' is a line I hope will attract my reader further as I do not actually say what it is about. You have to open the magazine further to find out the information that links with that cover line. When opening the magazine the reader would see more pictures and more stories thus making them buy the magazine.
Another way I have attracted my audience, as stated above, is the other use of cover lines. Adding popular artists names to the front of the magazine means that the audience would be more incline to purchase the magazine so that they can read about not just one person, but a variety of people. Some readers may not like my cover model, but may like Michael Buble or Rhianna. Without the cover lines, it makes my magazine focus primarily on Nick Woods entirely meaning the circulation would drop as not everyone in my target audience may like him.
As well as attracting my audience with the front cover of the magazine, I have also used the double page spread to attract more readers. As started before in the construction of the page, I separated the magazine out into six different columns. This is a convention of a normal music magazine hence why I followed it. If a reader buys a magazine with the same layout that I have used, then surely they would also buy mine. It is not the layout however that is what would encourage my reader to buy the magazine. The mode of address within the article is what should attract them. The use of colloquiums and informal writing would relate to the reader. I have chosen to write using this language as it would be similar to the words that my target audience would say. As well as this, I didn't want to be speaking AT the audience, but wanted them to be included in it. The article has a very casual, relaxed approach 'with an afternoon of laughter, food, music and more food' shows this casual approach to the reader. As well as this, in the interview, I included audience interaction. By adding the 'questions from fans' bit adds that extra piece of authenticity as the reader may be one of them people that wanted to know that question.
Defining the audience was a tricky process when constructing all of the magazine as I have a mass target audience from teenagers to adults. Taking this into consideration, I feel that I have addressed my audience and attracted them well enough to encourage them to purchase my magazine.
Evaluation Question 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Understanding who you target audience is , is an important aspect for anyone withing the media industry. Creators of magazines need to know exactly who their target audience is in order to draw their attention and make them purchase the product. It would be wrong for Kerrang! to include a story about Eminem for example as he is a rapper and does not associate himself with Kerrang!'s genre of rock. Knowing your target audience is also needed for advertisement purposes. Other companies that wish to advertise their product would need to know who the audience is of the magazine so as to show their product to an audience that are more likely to buy it. For example, it would be silly to advertise a men's health product in a woman's magazine.
Vibe Magazine Audience:
Men - 50.5%
Women - 49.5%
Age:
18-24 38.6%
18-34 71.2%
21+ 82.2%
35+ 28.8%
Medium HHI £44,000
A/B target audience
I have included a few figures for VIBE's target audience as this is the only magazine that is most similar to mine, meaning the target audiences would be near enough the same.
My Magazine: Sound
I do not intend to primarily focus on one sex reading my magazine. VIBE is a magazine that is widely read by both males and females. Opening my target audience to both genders allows the maximum possible sales and allows a wider range of articles to be included within the magazine.
Age:
16+ -As you can see from VIBE's figures, their highest readership is from 21 year olds and higher at 82.2%. The second highest age group is 18-34 year olds at 71.2%. Because of this, I want to aim my magazine at a similar age group, however starting at the lower age of sixteen. This is because most of the music is becoming are more important attribute within peoples lives today with songs continuously being played on the radio and also the compatibility of
mp3 players and iPods. I feel that it is around the age of sixteen where you start to want to know about the music in more detail and read about the artist who produced your favourite song. By opening my target audience, it would mean it would be harder to complete a magazine with pictures, articles and adverts, however in the long run, it would see a high revenue as more and more people would aim to buy the product. On the right is just an example picture of what my target audience would look like. In this case, it is 18-24 year old males.
Socio-Economic Groups:
I have carried out a short bit of research in order to understand and decide what sort of people I wan to aim my music magazine at. I have priced my magazine at The list on the left summarises the different socio-economic groups there are within society. VIBE magazine focuses on the A/B people, however I wish to aim my magazine at A/B/C1&2.
I want to aim my magazine at a larger target audience so as to gain the most revenues from sales. If I was to only aim my magazine at socio-economic group A, then I would not gain as much money as I would should I aim it at more people. This may be the case, however there is no indication to say who what sort of social group would by my magazine as a wide variety of people from all different classes have different views on music. As well as this, it would be important to note that I am aiming my magazine at people as low as 16 years old, meaning it does not matter what socio-economic group they would be categorised into as they would more than likely still be in education.
Music Tastes
On the left are some album covers of the type of music that may target audience would listen to. Only one -one with yellow bars- is similar to my genre of music, however they have the common factor that they are all popular artists within the industry today and they can be commonly heard on most radio stations every day. This type of music is so popular as the music is fairly 'easy going' and songs are easy to remember with catchy memorable, tunes. Below is a music video of the artist which is most similar to mine. (excuse the pop ups on the video)
Understanding who you target audience is , is an important aspect for anyone withing the media industry. Creators of magazines need to know exactly who their target audience is in order to draw their attention and make them purchase the product. It would be wrong for Kerrang! to include a story about Eminem for example as he is a rapper and does not associate himself with Kerrang!'s genre of rock. Knowing your target audience is also needed for advertisement purposes. Other companies that wish to advertise their product would need to know who the audience is of the magazine so as to show their product to an audience that are more likely to buy it. For example, it would be silly to advertise a men's health product in a woman's magazine.
Vibe Magazine Audience:
Men - 50.5%
Women - 49.5%
Age:
18-24 38.6%
18-34 71.2%
21+ 82.2%
35+ 28.8%
Medium HHI £44,000
A/B target audience
I have included a few figures for VIBE's target audience as this is the only magazine that is most similar to mine, meaning the target audiences would be near enough the same.
My Magazine: Sound
I do not intend to primarily focus on one sex reading my magazine. VIBE is a magazine that is widely read by both males and females. Opening my target audience to both genders allows the maximum possible sales and allows a wider range of articles to be included within the magazine.
Age:
16+ -As you can see from VIBE's figures, their highest readership is from 21 year olds and higher at 82.2%. The second highest age group is 18-34 year olds at 71.2%. Because of this, I want to aim my magazine at a similar age group, however starting at the lower age of sixteen. This is because most of the music is becoming are more important attribute within peoples lives today with songs continuously being played on the radio and also the compatibility of
mp3 players and iPods. I feel that it is around the age of sixteen where you start to want to know about the music in more detail and read about the artist who produced your favourite song. By opening my target audience, it would mean it would be harder to complete a magazine with pictures, articles and adverts, however in the long run, it would see a high revenue as more and more people would aim to buy the product. On the right is just an example picture of what my target audience would look like. In this case, it is 18-24 year old males.Socio-Economic Groups:
I have carried out a short bit of research in order to understand and decide what sort of people I wan to aim my music magazine at. I have priced my magazine at The list on the left summarises the different socio-economic groups there are within society. VIBE magazine focuses on the A/B people, however I wish to aim my magazine at A/B/C1&2. I want to aim my magazine at a larger target audience so as to gain the most revenues from sales. If I was to only aim my magazine at socio-economic group A, then I would not gain as much money as I would should I aim it at more people. This may be the case, however there is no indication to say who what sort of social group would by my magazine as a wide variety of people from all different classes have different views on music. As well as this, it would be important to note that I am aiming my magazine at people as low as 16 years old, meaning it does not matter what socio-economic group they would be categorised into as they would more than likely still be in education.
Music Tastes
On the left are some album covers of the type of music that may target audience would listen to. Only one -one with yellow bars- is similar to my genre of music, however they have the common factor that they are all popular artists within the industry today and they can be commonly heard on most radio stations every day. This type of music is so popular as the music is fairly 'easy going' and songs are easy to remember with catchy memorable, tunes. Below is a music video of the artist which is most similar to mine. (excuse the pop ups on the video)
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