Message from Ms Prince

Your blog has now been marked for research and planning. Anything that you may now add will not be counted towards your final mark.

sketches of front cover, contents, and main article

Evaluation

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

Before I created my music magazine I looked at a number of different magazines associated with my genre(hip hop), magazines I looked at included Vibe, The Source and XXL. This was in order to find out what codes and conventions these magazines used in order to attract an audience to buy their magazines

For my front cover I placed the main image of my artist in the centre, this was to attract my audience and also to show the focus of the magazine. I placed the masthead of my magazine at the top of the front cover in big, bold and embossed fonts. This was to distinguish my magazine from other magazines so that it would be easily recognisable. Aswell as this I have made the masthead a different colour to the rest of the magazine, this was also in order to establish the magazins name. I also strecthed the masthead across the top of the front cover in order to make it stand out. My magazine also follows the typical coventions of a music magazine such as the use of cover lines(exclusives, prices, puff). I have also used the huge headline towards the bottom of the cover in order to let the reader know who the magazine is about.

I also tried to make my magazine unique. This was done by using a black and white picture and also using an outdoor background included on the front cover instead of a typical coloured background. Also my main image is not a typical image of an artist looking directly in to the camera, i aimed to have him lookingaway in order to create intrest amoung the reader. The use of the black and white picture diverts away from a typical coloured picture and adds a sense of mystery and art to the front cover.

The magazine closest to mine is probably Vibe this is due to Vibe also trying to divert away from typical magazine covers and trying to add a unique quality to their front covers.

Below is my magazine compared to an issue of Vibe.

My contents page keeps to the typical conventions of a music magazine. This is in the sense that i have normal page numbers and titles to inform my audience about the stories included in the magazine. I also have an editorial at the top of my contents to inform the reader of the origon of the magazine. I also have the contents title typed in bold as well as subjects such as ECLUSIVES and FEATURES.

However agian I wante to make my contents page unique just like my front cover. In this case I used one image for the whole contents page and spread it across the whole page I also again used a black and white picture in order to keep to the theme of the front cover. I didnt use any additional photos to show other artists as i wanted to draw focus to theartist on the front cover. However I did signify these other artists by using their names in the copy. Yet again i found that Vibe was theclosest comparison to my contents page.

Below My contents page and a Vibe contents page.

My main article uses very typical conventions of music magazines for example the article is written in colums. Also there is use of floating quotes. I have also used a bold typograpghy for the title of the article and used a typical Times New Roman font  for the article. I have also made the questions of from the interviewer in bold and the answers in a regualar font. I have also tried to make the artile unique by using black and white photos aiming to keep to that thee presented in the front cover and contents. However I have added some colour, making the floating quotes red helps to add colour to my article.

Below my double page spread.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I generally wanted to represent hip hop artists in my magazine as tough independent people. I did this by getting my artist to pose in strong poses and also looking away from the camera to show he doesn't regard anyone but himself. I also wanted to represent hip hop artists as simple people that come from urban settings. I acheived this by getting my model to pose in simple clothes like a grey hoodie and black trousers. I also achieved this by getting my model to pose in an outdoor setting surounded by an urban setting. I aso wanted to represent youth as independent and simple. I did this by againmaking y artist pose with plain and smple clothes and also by making him pose by himself. As well as pictures I also used the copy to achieve this. I did this by using words such as "PLAIN AND SIMPLE".

  

 What would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product is ranging from 16-24. This because most hip hop youths can relate with my magazine. for example the use of the young artist on the front cover and main features.

How did you attract your audience?

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  I made my main image black and white to make it look more unique than other magazines.
• 
  
  I made my masthead stand out in a big bold and strong font.
• 
  
   Made my main image huge so tht it covered the page.
• 
  
  Made my puff stand out aswell as other copy.
• 
  
  Used words such as exclusives to entice audience.

Who Would Publish your Magazine?

I believe that Harris Publications would distribute my magazine. This is due to them already publishing XXL magazine. This would be good for my magazine as it shows this Company has experience in distributing the same genre music magazine as mine.

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

During my production of my Music magazine i learnt a lot about different technologies these technologies included:

• 
  
  Adobe Photoshop
• 
  
  Adobe Audition
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  File Sharing sites to upload media such as mp3's and pictures
• 
  
  Digital Photography

I learnt many techinques such as editing and peicing images together, recording and editing audio files. I also learnt how to upload photos and auio up on to the internet. Aswell as this I also learnt how to master Adobe photshop in order to create my magazine.

adobe audition

photoshop

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

Looking back i realise I hav learnt a lot since the develoment of our preliminary project to the actual production of our final magazines. This includes perfecting my skills on Photoshop to properlylearning how to cut , edit and place images and text on to an A4 page.

I have also learnt how to makemy magazin more appealing to an audience. During my Preliminary task I didnt really learn the proper dvices of a magazine, but eventually I  went from my amatuer looking preliminary magazine to a more professional looking final magazine.

Final front cover

Final contents page

Final article page 1

Final article page 2

NME front cover and contents analysis

Analysis of Front cover and Contents of Magazine The magazine that I have chosen is a music one called the NME. It is a music magazine with that tells the readers about all different types of music not just one type I think that is why it is so popular to the British public. The front cover of this edition of the magazine I have chosen has a rather large picture of the band the Killers. It has a very big name of the band along with the picture to tell the reader who the band is and makes the reader know who this edition is focussed on. Along with the picture and title there is a tiny piece of writing again letting the reader know what the article on that band is about? There is a little quote at the top saying “15 page guide to the world’s greatest rock festival. I think this is put in a obvious place to entice the reader especially those interested in rock to want to read it. Next to the title in a place to be seen there is the names of other bands that will be focussed on in this magazine, the writing is also very bold and in a different colour from the rest to make it stand out. The way the front cover is set out is very well thought out and is set out in a way where there is enough information to make the reader want to look further inside and read on. The title is very well placed and displayed, the colour is bright and attractive, not to bright and it is very bold and big. Also the name of the main band in this edition is big and stands out very well against the colour of the background. The picture of the lead singer of the killers is placed right slap bang in the middle of the page and it is a very interesting photograph of him as there seems to be three sides to him and the caption to go with it that reads “Can Brandon find the plot in time for Reading & Leeds”. This would make readers want to know what the caption means and want to find out about possibly one of their favourite band members or lead singers. The contents page from NME magazine is very eye catching along with the front cover because of the use of colours and its bold writing. It has a lot of information in it but it still looks organized and the text is situated very well. The page is separated under different headings; news, radar, reviews, live and features, these are all down the right hand side of the page. Down the left hand side of the page is a ‘band index’ which helps readers find a specific band inside of the magazine. To find something that had a place on the front cover there is a small red arrow pointing at the stories that are mentioned on the cover. The title of the article and the page number are clearly separated by two different colours used to write each of them in, red for the page number and black for the title. The NME logo is kept in the top left hand corner to keep the contents page also similar to the front cover. At the top of the page it says ‘this week’ in a large bold font, this reminds the audience that this is a weekly magazine. It is also a more informative title than ‘contents page’ because it gets the point across that it is a weekly magazine. In-between the two contents columns are two large pictures with a small story underneath, this is a taster to give the reader an idea of what the rest of the magazine will be like. This doesn’t make this page a strict contents page as it also has a small story about Oasis who is one of the most recognizable artists in Britain. Adding the story makes the page more interesting and fills the gap in-between the two columns, the fact that a story was used about Oasis makes the story more appealing as they will be recognized amongst the British audience. If the story wasn’t there then the writing would have to be bigger which would go against the common conventions in NME that it is a weekly magazine. The red, whites and blacks that are used on the front cover are continued onto the contents page keeping the magazine looking familiar throughout the issue. The fonts and font sizes are also kept the same.

MAGAZINE ALMOST DONE MINUS HEAD ABOVE MASTHEAD AND COPY ON THE BOTTOM NOT COLOURED IN RED ASWELL AS SMALLER IMAGE OF ARTIST

developing my front cover: FIRST IMAGES OF HOW I GOT TO MY FINAL IDEA

developing my front cover: FIRST IMAGES OF HOW I GOT TO MY FINAL IDEA

possible contents pictures ( not used)

possible contents pictures ( not used)

colour pictures for main article,contents or front page

black and white photos for main article and front cover

magazine article almost done

i need to add more colour to it maybe on the floating quotes.

magazine idea for background

finished edited train station

before and editing of picture not finished

Targets

You must now use the blog checklist to get up to speed with the other tasks required to show detailed evidence of planning and research.

Research

Your analysis of a similar media text demonstrates a sound understanding of the use of presentational devices in conveying genre and targeting an audience - well done Yusuf. You must now add your analysis of contents pages and a main article.

Planning

Yusuf, well done for including evidence of your early planning work in addition to shots of your preliminary task. Your screen shots of your masthead designs are useful in conveying your early production work in progress.

The XXL front cover has a main image of Lil Wayne and Baby; the mast head has a red background with the lettering in diamond as it is the 10th anniversary issue.it has civer lines stating the exclusive interviews with some of the industries top artists such as Eminem.the main coverline is blod and at the bottom of the page to make it eye catching.




The main image can be interpreted in many ways such as showing Lil Wayne and Baby are comrads and Protection of eachother as Baby's arm is around Lil Wayne; this can also be interpreted as homoerotic as both of these readings subvert the stereotype and this also opens up the audience for potential customers .



There is also Synergy in the image as Lil Wayne is wearing the " young money" necklace that symbolises his record lable. the magazine itself also contains two puffs which add to the status of the magazine as it is boasting it's greatness " 10th Anniversary"

In conclusion i think this cover is very appealing to a wide audience due to the main image it also subverts and confirms stereotypes in the hip hop genre;for example power and wealth. This appeals to the audience as

Public Survey

GENERAL PUBLIC Survey




1. What gender are you?

Male        Female

2. What type of purchase do you prefer?

Weekly       monthly       quarterly

3. How much would you pay?

£1.00-2.50      £2.50-3.00      £3.00-4.00

4. Do you enjoy reading about up and comming artists?

Yes       No

5. Do you enjoy competion pages?

Yes          No

6. Where do you buy your magazines?

Supermarkets     Newsagents    Music outlet stores     Other

7. Are you a regular consumer of music magazines?

Yes       No

8. What social networking websites do you indulge in?

Facebook       MySpace     Bebo      Hi5       Other

9. Would you benefit from an online feature?

Yes       No

10. How long on average do you spend online each day?

1-2 HRS       2-4 HRS         6+ HRS