Final Magazine Cover

This is the image of my final Magazine cover:

Both myself and my focus group target audience think this is a highly appealing, overall successful magazine cover.

It is something that follows typical conventions of magazine covers of the genre 'rock/alternative', and this makes my magazine look more professional.

The colour scheme used on my cover has been commended for making my cover stand out on a shelf among existing competetor magazines, however it isn't too bold to be off-putting to the consumer. This is a highly important feature of my cover page when considering sales of my magazine and my target audience's preferences.

The image choice, fonts and layout I have used all follow typical conventions of 'rock/alternative' magazines, and I believe that this makes my magazine look better and overall more complete and 'professional'.

Final Contents Page

Here is my final contents page:

I believe that my contents page has been an overall success.

My target audience has given a positive response towards it, commenting on how the layout is quite typical of music magazines in the 'rock/alternative' genre, such as 'Kerrang!' and 'NME'.

They liked the fact that my magazine contents page was reasonably simple and 'user friendly' and believe that this will be a major influencing factor in sales of my magazine compared to a magazine that may have an overly-complex contents page.

Furthermore, they thought that the 'subscribe' box that I created was a very successful feature of my contents page. They said that this additional feature made my magazine look more professional, as it was a following what magazines usually have - ie. following the conventions of music magazine contents pages.

Final Double Page spread

Here is my finished product - magazine double page spread:

I believe that this product is highly successful for an original music magazine feature in the genre of 'rock/alternative'.

The colours used are representative of typical codes and conventions that are used for magazines of the genre, especially in double page spreads where the artist's personality must shine through the images and colour scheme, etc.

I believe that the image I have used is another highly effective and impressive feature of this piece.
The eye-contact from the model and the editing I have done to emphasise her eyes using Adobe Photoshop makes this image stand out, and is a bonus to the reader as it can double up as a tear-out 'poster'.

Members of my target audience have given this piece of work completely positive feedback, as they have said they believe it is a highly professional looking piece that will attract an audience using a number of features.
Furthermore, they believed that my product would, importantly, appeal to my target audience.

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

Evaluation Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Images: 

Here is a transcript!

The cover model I have used, intentionally has a particular look. She suits the genre of my magazine of rock or alternative due to her features such as hair colour, make-up, costume and ‘attitude’ expressed through body language and her posing within images.
This means that my model will attract the particular social group of more ‘alternative’ people, as they will relate to her, as she may look or dress similar to them, and may also have a more alternative attitude that they can relate to.


Additionally, my cover model will attract both males and females as she is attractive, but not in an overly risqué way such as cover model’s on ‘revolver’ magazine. I believe this is highly beneficial for my magazine as it means it will appeal to both genders equally and not alienate either sex.

The ‘live’ images on my magazine contents page will also represent a particular social group as they are likely to be the type of person that enjoys live gigs and attend them more than other people may do. This will represent them as they may be more able to associate with my live featured images than a simple image of the artist/band.

My ‘quirky’ feature artist images with the playing cards also represent a particular social group. This imagery is quite fun and ‘alternative’ – meaning it may not appeal to an audience of another genre, such as pop music. This image represents my audience as they like the excitement and fun of the images.

Content: 

The content of my text also represents particular social groups as it contains articles that are interesting and popular among my target audience in particular, rather than audience’s of other genres, such as pop music.

Here is a transcript!
Through research I found that articles from rock and alternative magazines are much more interesting than those in other genre’s, such as pop magazines . This is because they often include personal things about the artist that the reader will really enjoy, not just reading about vague, uninteresting and irrelevant information.
I believe the content of my magazine represents a particular social group of alternative, as it features editorials that they will find genuinely interesting, not just superficial, unclear, and irrelevant information about the artist.

Colour Scheme: 

Here is a transcript!
The colour scheme of my magazine represents the particular social group of rock or alternative as it uses red and black which are typically colours used for rock magazines, as I found from my research into magazines such as ‘NME’, ‘Q’ and 'Kerrang!'.
However, my magazine also features more bold, fun, and exciting colours such as bright yellow and blue in order to make my magazine more fun, fresh, and quirky.


Additionally, I believe that this represents the social group of rock/alternative as it is a style that wouldn’t be suited to everyone's taste- it is something that stands out and is different from the 'norm' of other genre of magazine - something that this particular social group may be able to relate to.

Evaluation Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

IPC Media:

I have carried out research into the company ‘IPC media’.
This company is one of the UK’s leading magazine publishers, producing over 60 ‘iconic media brands’ and with print alone reaching almost two thirds of women and 42% of men – which equals almost 26 million UK citizens.
This is highly important when considering which media intuition will distribute my media product as it would be beneficial for my magazine sales to choose the distributor who can sell my magazine to the wider audience – accumulating a greater profit for my company.

IPC media deals with a wide range of magazines from women’s weeklies such as ‘NOW’ magazine to men’s lifestyle and entertainment such as music magazines.
This is again important as it is crucial that my distributor has had previous music magazines within their company as it will give me an idea about the circulation my magazine is likely to get with this media company in comparison to competitors.

IPC media also deals with the popular music magazine ‘NME’.
This is a huge positive as IPC have experience in selling music magazines with a similar target audience to mine, and so, already have consumers ready for my magazine.

I also found that IPC go on to distribute magazines to a wide range of retailers.
This is also a positive as they will be able to offer me a wider variety and number of venues for my magazine to be available, increasing sales and circulation of my magazine.

Bauer Media Group:

I then carried out further research into media institutions to find out more about the ‘Bauer Media group’.

The Bauer Media Group is a German company, founded in 1875, which operates in 15 countries worldwide. This is highly beneficial for magazine distribution as it will ensure that my magazine gets as much coverage and circulation as possible – creating a following for my magazine in multiple countries, not just in the UK.

This publisher also provides distribution of music magazines such as ‘Q’, ‘MOJO’ and ‘Kerrang!’. This is again a highly attractive point for the Bauer group as my magazine will fit into a similar category of ‘rock/alternative’ as these magazines. This means that there will already be consumers out there for my genre of music magazine – increasing initial sales.

Evaluation Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Here is a transcript!
My media product has a primary target audience of teenagers and young adults.
I have made this age group my target audience as from my research I found that they were the age group most likely to buy music magazines, and who were most interested in them.
I have appealed to this age group by using a feature artist and cover model of a similar age, and including relevant, fresh information within my features that they would actually be interested in.

Here is a transcript!
My media product’s audience is people who enjoy the ‘rock/alternative’ type of music.
Taking this into account when I created my media product, I have tailored the features to them by using bands they are likely to already enjoy and listen to.
Although this type of music may be classed as quite specific, my magazine is not for a niche market as many people are interested in the genre of ‘rock/alternative’ and are willing to broaden their horizons by listening to different types of artist.

Here is a transcript!
My media product has the target audience of males and females - shown by me using both male and female models within my magazine.
I have also attracted both a male and female target audience by using a non- gender biased colour scheme that will appeal to both sexes equally – not alienating either.

Evaluation Question 5 - How did you attract or address your audience?

 

Evaluation Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing your media product?

Throughout the creation of my new media product I have learnt how to do a lot with new media technologies, especially using Adobe Photoshop.

As this was the first time I have used Photoshop, I had to learn how to use very simple tools such as the ‘brush’ tool and working out the ‘layers’ and other features, and altogether more complex tools such as the ‘clone stamp tool’ and ‘spot healing brush tool’.

I have used complex editing such as using the ‘blur - surface blur’ tool and spot healing tool to edit out any flaws on my model’s complexions and to correct anything else wrong the image (eg. Hairs out of place).

For example, this is a is a demonstration of a before and after image of a photograph that I have edited:

During my time working on my media product, I also learnt about different tools that are used to edit the text within Photoshop, such as the ‘stroke’ tool to give my text a bolder appearance and to make it stand out more.

Here is an example of some text that I have applied the ‘stroke’ effect to:

 

 

During my time creating my media product, it was also important that I learnt how to use the professional camera’s and studio equipment properly to achieve the desired professional look for my photo shoot. This required a short tutorial on how to use basic things such as the flash in the studio and how to properly position my model, etc.

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

 

Changes made due to audience feedback

I decided to show a selection of people from my target audience my products to see what they thought about my work - commenting on positive and negative factors.

The comment that was most notable was concerning my magazine cover.
Both a student from my target audience focus group and a teacher commented that although my magazine cover was good, the font/colours that I use for my feature article should be slightly different to the other minor articles on the cover in order for it to stand out more.

They also suggested that I could add more articles to the bottom of my page in order for it to look more 'filled out' and professional.

I decided to make these changes as the feedback from my focus group and target audience is extremely important, so here is a 'before and after' image of my magazine cover:

I believe that having made these changes, my magazine does look slightly better, more aesthetically pleasing, and clearly more attractive to my target audience.

Photoshoot - Final edited images

Below are the final versions of my images after the editing process for use in my magazine.
I decided to include 'before and after' images so it is clear the changes I have made.

magazine cover image: edited and original.

magazine contents page image: edited and original.

magazine double page spread image: edited and original.

Contents page - Review

I soon realised when composing my contents page that there was 'blank space', even after including my images, letter from the editor and my own original 'subscribe' box.
I decided to look at different contents pages from existing media products of similar genres to my magazine, and found a common feature among the magazine 'Q!''s issues.

Q! magazine features all of the typical codes and conventions that are expected of a music magazine, however they also include a 'Q Review' that briefly features a short review of a particular feature band/artist.
Here is an example:

I believe this would be a good idea fo me to recreate within my own contents page.

I will include an artist that is typical of my target audience to like - perhaps quite an obscure/alternative band that not many people will have heard of - using my magazine contents page to promote them to my target audience.

Here is my own CRASH! review section:

I included a brief overview about the band, with information such as how they sound, where they are from and how many are in the band.

I decided not to include an image as the Q review did as I already have a lot of images on my contents page - and didn't want to detract attention or make my contents page too 'cluttered'.

Photoshoot - Editing Images - double page spread

My focus group of my target audience found that this image was one of the best from the photoshoot - but it needed some work in order for it to show my artist as a rock/alterative audiences.
I decided that in addition to making her eyes the focal point of the image and darkening her hair to stay with the continuity of my magazine - I would make the edges of the image darker with the 'burn' tool, to further appeal to my audience as it will look more suited to a 'rock' audience and will make my magazine successful.

Eye colour
I again decided to emphasise the already striking eye colour of my model in order for the image to further stand out.
I believe that making the eyes of my model stand out in this image is highly important as it is used as a poster image, meaning eye contact is key.
I did this by primarily using the 'dodge' tool in Photoshop.
Here are my before and after editing images:

Saturation
As you can see in the above image of the eye, I also adjusted the saturation of my image.
I did this as I believe that the original image was too bright and didn't really reflect my audience or the persona of my artist - in order to achieve this is had to look darker and more suited to a rock artist.
I did this by simply using the 'Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation' tool in Adobe Photoshop.
This also made my model's eyes stand out further - giving her a sort of mysterious look that I believe will be popular with my target audience.

Hair colour
In order to keep the continuity of my model - I changed her hair colour in order to make it darker for my double page spread.
I believe this darker hair colour is more representative of the 'rock' genre - and so, will appeal to my audience more.

Here are my results after adjusting saturation and hair colour:

Photoshoot - Editing Images - contents page

I decided that as this image is only for my contents page - it didn't need too much editing.
I had already removed any minor perfections from my model's skin in my previous image editing post - and so I should simply make minor changes to the image in order for it to be at its most aesthetically impressive for my audience.

Hair colour
As I had previously made my model's hair colour appear darker (for my cover image) I had to stay with continuity and darken my model's hair in all images.
I again used the 'burn' tool in Adobe photoshop to achieve this.
Here are my before and after images:

 

I believe that this was the only change that I needed to carry out on this image as it was already a good quality, appealing image that my target audience would find quirky, fun and enjoyable.

Contents page - Letter from the editor

This is my final 'letter from the editor':

I believe that it is a highly successful final piece as it follows the typical codes and conventions of existing products like it.
I have talked about what is going to be featured in the issue briefly and I have also included a 'signature' in order to make my piece look professional and finalised.
I believe that this will make my magazine a success as it is sticking to the existing media codes and conventions that people are proven to like - and it makes my magazine look more professional and aesthetically pleasing.

Contents page - Letter from the editor research

From my research into existing media products of my genre, I found that it is a typical convention to feature a 'letter from the editor' on the contents page.
This is a simple, short introduction to the magazine that ususally contains information about what is going to be featured in this weeks article.

Here is an example of a Kerrang! letter from the editor:

I have decided to include a similar style letter from the editor in my magazine contents page.
I will overview what is special about this issue of my magazine, and ensure that it entices the audience to want to read the rest of the magazine.
I will also include a 'signature' by downloading a font that is appropriate - as I believe this will make my magazine look highly professional and make it a success.

Photoshoot - Editing Images - Magazine cover

I decided to edit my images before I put them onto my magazine for the final piece.
The purpose of this was so that any minor flaws or imperfections could be corrected in order to make my images more aesthetically pleasing for the consumer.

I first decided to use the 'spot healing brush tool' to remove any minor imperfections from the face of my model in all images. This gave a smooth, even finish that is more appealing for an image.

 

Next I decided that it would be appropriate to focus on my magazine cover image.

I had already smoothed out my model's skin and removed any minor imperfections, so I decided to work on a few minor things that were incorrect about the photograph in order to make it better.

White clothing strap visible

I noticed that a white strap from my models clothing underneath the dress was visibile - and that it needed to be fixed so it didn't stand out as much.

I decided to simply use the 'clone stamp tool' and use material from the dress to cover this up.

Here is a before and after of my work:

Eye colour

Part of the reason my model was chosen is because she has striking blue eyes that I thought would stand out on the front of my magazine - attracting my target audience.

I decided to emphasise my model's eyes by enhancing them using Adobe Photoshop, primarily using the 'dodge' tool.

I also perfected her eyeliner and eye-makeup by simply utilizing the 'brush' tools at low opacity in order for her eyes to further stand out within the image.

Here is a before and after image:

Hair colour

From my research I found that the majority of female rock/alterative artists have darker hair - mostly dark brown or black.

My model has mid-brown hair, and so, I decided to see how it would look darker for my images.

I did this using the 'burn' tool in Adobe Photoshop.

Here are my before and after images:

I then decided to position my model on the cover of my magazine in order to see where to place my articles and titles.

This is my finished cover model image:

Contents page - images

I have decided to use a range of images that I have in my posession for my contents page.

I am going to do a special 'live' edition of my magazine, where there are a lot of reviews and information about the best upcoming live acts.

For this, I am able to utilize images I already have. I can use the images that I have taken myself when I have been to festivals and concerts, and below are the images I will use for my 'live' edition contents page.

Panic! at the disco - Manchester Academy - 2011.

 

Juan Zelada - Liverpool Leaf tea shop and bar - 2012.

Joshua Radin - Manchester Academy - 2010.

Marina and the Diamonds - MEN Arena - 2011.

I decided to edit this images colours slightly as it was too saturated - here you can see the before and after.

Jessie J - O2 Apollo - 2011.

Lostprophets - Manchester Apollo - 2010.

My Chemical Romance - O2 Apollo - 2010.

I believe that all of these images are appropriate for my magazine as they will appeal to my target audience. My target audience are the type of person who love music - and enjoy going to live shows - so this 'live' edition of Crash! is likely to be highly successful.

Photoshoot - Image choices

I decided that in order to choose the images for use on my magazine cover, contents page and double page spread, I should get the opinion of my peers - people who would fit into my target audience.

I decided to use this image for my magazine cover:

A member of my target audience said that this image gives the right impression for my artist - this image makes her look like a rock/alternative artist.

My model is dressed like a stereotypical female rock artist as she is wearing black which has connotations of rock music.

Furthermore, her body language and facial expression is quite laid back, as if to say 'I don't care' - which will appeal to my target audience as they are quite alternative and like to stand apart from the social norms - sometimes perhaps behaving quite rebelliously.

My model is wearing a costume in order to appeal to both a male and female target audience. My male target audience will find her attractive and my female audience will admire her for her looks - something that will ensure my magazine stands out on the shelf.

My model is also making eye contact - something that is highly important for a cover. This attracts the audience as it will ensure my magazine looks sleek and professional.



I decided to use this image for my contents page:

My focus group of peers said that this image stood out and was particularly interesting.

I went along with the 'alice in wonderland' theme by putting my model in frame with some playing cards - notably the queen of hearts. I believe this is appealing to my target audience as it will stand out as quite quirky and fun - something they will enjoy.

I believe this image is appropriate for my contents page as it sets up my artist's persona - something that will attract my target audience.

I have chosen this image for my double page spread:

My focus group said that this was one of the most striking images out of the photoshoot, and that it would be perfect for a tear-out poster for my double page spread.

The use of the queen of hearts card is a successful feature of this picture as it gives you an insight into the artists persona. It is a quirky, fun addition to my magazine that will attract my alternative audience.

The eye contact from my model is again a highly important part of the composition of this image. The artist looks as if she is looking directly at you - something that will attract my target audience.

From my research into target audience I know that  the kind of people who read music magazines like this are often people who collect posters and display them in places such as their bedrooms. I believe this would  be a very good poster image, and I tailored the image towards this use for my audience.