Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I spent a lot of time looking at and comparing my work to real music magazines. I spent time on the front cover working with fonts and the main image to make it look as realistic and competitive ( in the media industry) as possible. I spent time adjusting little details such as font size and position, sometimes even just very slightly, to make my product as successful as possible. I spent time airbrushing the main image which real magazines do. The cover includes a masthead, which I again spent time changing and looking at different fonts to find the most suited one, plugs and a main image of the artist as the main part of the cover and also a smaller image of another artist featured inside the magazine. I also spent a lot of time working with fonts and position of text while making the contents page to make it look as realistic as possible. In my opinion the contents page uses conventions of real media products as it includes everything a music magazine contents page would. The way I have laid it out also makes it a convention as it is set out like a real magazine contents page would be. The double page spread carries on the idea of the conventions by using relevant font and position of the text and images are similar to that of a real magazine.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My media product represents social groups who like rock/indie music as the fonts and colour scheme used reflect this. The fonts have a decayed look to them which is associated with rock music and the colour scheme is also associated with rock music. I know this as I studied other rock/indie music magazines. The artists included in my magazine, such as SUM 41, Pink Floyd and Simple plan also reflect the rock/indie social group who will be reading my magazine. The main artist on the cover reflects the age group as he is 17 years old so this is representing the audience of been possibly at a teenage age. However, Pink Floyd are an older band so this reflects that the magazine is also aimed at slightly older people aswell.

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

My magazine could be published by Emap, Ipc, Future..any magazine publishers really. It would maybe be more suited to be published by IPC as they publish NME and my magazine has conventions which are similar to NME which suggests they are linked in some way. The main competition for my magazine would then be other music magazines such as Kerrang that are published by other companies. IPC publish many successful magazines including music magazines.

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

The audience for my music magazine is people aged of both genders from the age around 16 to 23 who like rock/indie music. I show this by the age of the main artist on the front, the type 0f font used (decayed looking/punky) and the colour scheme on the front cover. I also reflect this in the content of the double page spread as I use informal language during the interview and ask the artist questions that people of this age range would possibly ask. I include male and female artists to show that the magazine is aimed at both males and females. I attracted the audience by using bold, bright fonts on the cover and a large image of the main artist which will attract the audience as they will be interested in the artist and the colour scheme and fonts make the magazine stand out in the first place. The competitions and artists on the contents page also address the audience as they will be interested in these things.

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

I have not really learnt anything new as I was already familiar with the program I used to create my products (Ulead Photo Express) but I have definatley improved my skills. I have improved my photo editing skills (airbrushing) and also learnt how to place fonts in certain places that make the product look attractive. I have learnt that the smallest details make a huge difference.

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

My final main task front cover is similar to my preliminary task cover. I used the preliminary task to practise the techniques I already knew in preperation for the main task. I learnt to spend time on the little details like the fonts and colours to make my magazine as effective as possible. I also learnt to study carefully real magazines to get as many ideas as possible for my magazine so I was not stuck for ideas when i created my own.

Final Double Page Spread

Making Of The Double Page Spread

Photos For The Double Page Spread

The Interview For The Double Page Spread

I decided to do interview the artist in real life for my double page spread. The artist's name is Lindsey Simpson and his music is alternative and based on comedy. He plays the guitar and sings. He is from Wyke College and 17 years old. I based the interview questions on other music magazines I have studied.

The Interview:

Back to the beginning: When did you first start learning and taking an interest in music? Early on or recently?
I started playing the guitar when I was 9, I was self taught for about 2 years which was surprisingly easy for me. I began singing in high school-about year 7. I began by singing nonsense-which I still sing to this day.


Your songs are random, sometimes a little crazy, but definitely unique. Are they based on anything? Or are they written as randomly as they sound?
Some are written randomly but the majority are based on events that happen to me in my interesting, mental life.


Do you have any particular artists that inspire you? If so then why?
Yes I love Bill Bailey and Bob Dylan. I don’t know why they inspire me I just have a lot of respect for them and I enjoy their music.


It must be a bit overwhelming that your album has already reached the UK top 10. How are you handling all the attention?
Very well I think. It is overwhelming and yes I am getting a lot of attention but isn’t this all part of the job? I kind of like the attention at the minute as it gives me a lot of confidence that people are into my music. The only downside is that I am very busy: doing interviews, making public appearances, doing photoshoots, signing autographs…I haven’t had time to rest!


It is rumoured you’ve had a lot of attention from female fans…
[Laughs] Yes it is fair to say that! Its been crazy! I’ve had hundreds of girls throwing themselves at me which is strange to me as at school I wasn’t a guy who many girls would like. They all seemed to go for the, how can I put it? A***holes? Players? Oh well, anyway, I wouldn’t go for any girl right now no matter how good-looking they are as I am in a happy relationship and very much in love with my beautiful girlfriend.


Ah, so is your song ‘I fell in love with a Wh***’ based on her?
No, it was written about a girl I was good friends with at my college. She was very nice, very good-looking but kept getting hurt and let down by guys-because she kept going for the wrong ones. She wasn’t really a wh*** though, although some people saw her as one. Me included before I knew her properly but I got to know her quite well. Very well in fact. At one point we were, ahem, very close but obviously I have a girlfriend so nothing came of it.


I bet your girlfriend wasn’t too happy about that!
Oh, no. believe me she wasn’t. Neither was the other girl. I can’t believe I nearly ruined a year of love for a fling but I learnt my lesson and I would never do anything like that again. I gained a good friend out of it and me and my girlfriend are now closer then ever but I would never put my relationship at stake again.


Ah, well…Some people have compared you to Bob Dylan. Would you agree you’re your music is similar?
Yes I would to an extent. It isn’t entirely similar though- we are both unique. He wrote random stuff, so do I but we both have our own signature styles.


Do you find it slightly intimidating to be compared to such a legend?
In a way I do but I do see it that I am been compared to someone who is a legend so I must be good! I must have something about me for people to compare me to him!


What are your favourite tracks from your album and why?
God what a hard question. I love them all as they all mean something to me in their own unique way but I guess my favourite track has to be ‘Knagh’. I love the guitar riff and I find it very amusing. The amusing thing is that I am actually been serious.


Are you seriously planning to call your first child ‘Knagh’?
Oh yes, definitely! If my wife/girlfriend will let me but I am sure that I’ll be able to work my way around her. Knagh is the most unusual name; No-one else in the world will be called this! It is unique, random and slightly crazy-a bit like me…


Aren’t you worried they’ll get picked on?
Not really ‘cause who would want to pick on such a cool person’s kid? [Laughs] I’d make sure they were the coolest kid around so no-one would want to pick on them.


Well I suppose that’s true. You’d be a cool dad. Are you planning to get back in the studio anytime soon?
I hope to, yes, when I have the time. I love studio time as I find it is my creative outlet. It’s a chance for me to create my works of art , to have a good time and to have a good jam.


Where do you prefer to write your songs? And why?
I always write my songs on my bedroom as I have time and peace there. I find it very therapeutic writing songs. In my own room I can relax and be myself without been disturbed. I can think. And thinking creates good songs.


So, can we expect to hear more of you?
Yes almost definitely!

The Final Contents Page

Making The Contents Page

I made the contents page by looking at and analysing various contents pages of music magazines. I chose the fonts carefully to create a rock/punky feel to the page.

The Final Cover

Overall I think my magazine cover is good as it is realistic and looks very much like a music magazine. I created it using Ulead Photo Express which was useful as I could airbrush the images e.t.c. I downloaded a font for the masthead so it looked more suitable for the type of magazine. I chose to use black, white and red as colours because many music magazines of this genre use those colours so therefore it is a convention, which makes the magazine cover seem more realistic. I am reaching my target audience as the artists mentioned on the front and the age of the cover artist reflect the age of the audience and also the genre of music. I spent a lot of time perfecting minor things such as the font size and the lighting on the photograph and I think this has made my magazine cover successful.

Making The Magazine Cover-Stages

I focused on creating the magazine cover bit by bit. I looked at the magazine covers I had studied for inspiration and decided that simple is more effective. I tried to make my magazine cover as realistic as possible and created realistic conventions such as the bar code:

The Final Photograph

I chose this photograph as it is in focus, not blurred, and is, in my opinion, the sort of photograph you would see on the cover of a magazine. The artist is looking straight at the camera, engaging with the reader as soon as they pick up the magazine, with a serious expression on his face reflecting the fact that he is serious about his music. He is holding an acoustic guitar and is looking as if he is playing it as his hands are on the strings and he is holding a guitar pick. The guitar shows that his music will include a guitar and also shows that he is musical. Overall I think it was a good image to choose.

Obviously I had to edit the image before it was suitable for the magazine cover. First i cropped it and next i opened the image in Ulead Photo Express, a photo editing program and used a soften tool to airbrush the image. I then darkened the cheekbones and then softened this effect out more to make the image seem even more airbrushed. I then changed the contrast and saturation of the image to create a pale grey skin colour.

Photographs For Magazine cover

Name Survey

Choosing the name of my magazine is hard as there a lot of ideas to choose from, all of which I like so in choosing the name I will do a survey using 50 random choice people in the age range my magazine is aimed at ( 16-23 ). I will first give them 10 choices of names which I like the most and the 5 most popular choices I will then narrow down and put into a survey again, asking 25 different people aged 16-23 which name they like the most and therefore use that name. This is a good idea for promoting as the audience feel they are involved with the magazine and know about it before it has even been created. It also ensures that the audience it is aimed at may be interested in the magazine as they will obviously like the name.
















The most popular name chosen by the public for the magazine is Phase.
I personally like this choice as I think it is a catchy, modern name and fits into the music category well as people go through a 'Phase' of liking certain types of music.
It has a 'punky' sound to it and is short and snappy.