Coursework evaluation

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?


At the beginning of the coursework where I analysed music magazines that really helped me get ideas and help to create my magazine. It made me understand the conventions of music magazines and how I could use them in my own and challenge them in some ways. Conventions are things like pugs, coverlines, colour schemes, where to place the masthead and where to place the barcode..While designing my front cover I was reffering to an issue of blender. The similarites between blender and my magazine are I used the colour scheme pink, white and and also used left to right column alignment. I positioned my model in the middle of the page aswell. Another similarity is Katy Perry's head is covering a big part of the title and I wanted to incorporate that in mine however didnt want to much of the text to be hidden to I arranged the image layer to the front so it is only slightly covering part of the 'W'. For the smaller coverlines Blender use a + sign instead of using the word I though this was a good idea and as I am using informal text for my target audience it thought this would be a great idea, one slight change i made was to make the + considerably bolder and bigger. For my main coverline I used the way blender did and alternated between black and pink for first and last name.

At the beginning of the coursework i analysed Q front cover this gave me some inspiration for my own so I used some of the conventions they used. Like Q did, I put a banner at the top of my page they did it so the readers know they are reading a magazine of high standards so thats what i wanted for mine. However mine says ' Britains best-selling pop magazine' I made it more specific to a genre rather then just music in general. I also used the idea of using a pun in the main coverline. Q used a pun on Cheryl Cole's album so thats what I did for my main coverline. I used a pun on 'Emily Lott's' album called unleashed so my main coverline is Emily Lott Unleashed. I challenged conventions by not using a pug like many magazines do such as Q for example, this reason I did this was i wanted a simple and sophisticated front cover and I thought a pug wouldnt suit it therefore I did not create one.




When creating my contents page I used conventions and also tried to challenge them. I got my first inspiration from NME contents page as they don't use the word 'contents' which I did not want to use either as it sounds to formal and my magazine is informal. I decided I wanted my magazine to be weekly so I used the idea that NME uses however slightly changed it by using a '!' and a thinner line underneath as i didnt want it to look to bulky, so I added the date and issue number underneath the line.

Whilst analysing double page spreads i noticed that interveiws with an artist most have exclusive interview wrote somewhere on the page and as my magazine there is an interview with a new artist I felt it would be good to include that so the readers feel that they are special getting to read it. I placed this text on the right side of the page in the top corner so when flicking through the magazine the reader will see it. As the double page spread consisted of an interview another convention i came across was to use a quote from it and make it larger to stand out from the rest of the page, i included this in mine to make it look like a real interview.

I have used conventions so it really attracts and suits my target audience, I did not want to challenge conventions to much as i thought it would put my target audience off buying my magazine.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I have used a number of different elements to represent a particular social group, such as clothing, language, colour, font etc. I am aiming my magazine at teenage girls and am representing them through my magazine. The first thing that represents teenage girls is the colour pink that I used throughout my magazine. On the front cover I also used a model that my audience can aspire to wearing clothes that are fashionable and affordable I wanted a positive veiw on an artist that can be their role model. Teenage girls can associate with Pixie Lott and she is admired so choosing to do a story on her 'younger sister' I thought would attract my target audience. I used a girl to model from the same age range that i am targeting my magazine at so they can associate with her. I did not use any adults in my magazine or anyone a lot younger as this would not target my audience. I am also aware that throughout my magazine I did not use any one of a different race which if I did this task again I would include. I think that pop magazines, especially the ones I looked through mainly use white people for their photos. Black people are mainly/ stereotypically associated with r'n'b and hip hop magazines. To improve my magazine I could of included pictures of people from different races.

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

One company that might publish my magazine could be IPC media: http://www.ipcmedia.com/, they have published 80 successful magazines including NME. They also reach almost two thirds of women and my magazine is aimed at girls. They produce a range of magazine each diverse, although do not publish a pop magazine so therefore them publishing my pop magazine would give them more scope.

Another company that might publish my magazine is Hachette Fillipachi UK Ltd. Britain's most newest and exciting magazine publishing house. They have published magazines such as Elle, Red and Sugar. Sugar is a British magazine for teenage girls. Its content focuses on boys, fashion, celebrities, real-life stories about teenagers and other similar matters. That is who i am aiming my magazine at and i think that they would publish my magazine as it is focusing on a different aspect of their target audience. They do not publish a music magazine so this would help them offer a wider range of magazines. http://www.hf-uk.com/

My magazine could be sold and distributed in well known places such as Tescos and WHsmiths this will help to sell my magazines and these places are easy accessable to everyone and very well known. My magazine could also be distributed by mail subscription this would be easier my target audience as they could subscribe to my magazine and get their copy of it each week delivered to them so they dont have to leave and go to the shop and buy it. Magazines are also sold at kiosks in smaller news agents this might be a good way to sell my magazine as my target audience might be attracted by this and whilst buying whatever in the shop might see my magazine and pick it up.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product is teenage girls, someone like Lily who i did for my audience profile. Like Lily, they should be interested in fashion and music and anything girly! Some of their favourite artists should include: Katy Perry, Pixie Lott, Emily dares you etc. Without this taste in music and hobbies there would not be much point in buying my magazines so therefore my target audience who are interested in these things this magazine will really suit them. My audience profile of Lily is the typical person i think to read my magazine i also think my model i chose is the perfect look for a pop magazine. As i am aiming my magazine at teenagers they are mostly all students which means they have a low income so i priced my magazine at £3 so it is affordable for them.

5. How did you attract/adress your audience?

Mise-en-scene is also important to magazines to help attract an audience. I attracted my audience by a number of different techniques. I used images of a model that i thought represented my target market of teenage girls. The model i used - Vicky as 'Emily Lott' is blonde, slim build and very pretty this will attract girls to my magazine and also can aspire to her. I dressed her fashionably and also in the style of Pixie Lott like a copy image. Teenage girls aspire to Pixie Lott so this look should work. They are both wearing similar clothes i also decided to add a black flower to match the colour scheme and they are in fashion lately and and affordable trend for all teenagers.

I chose the colour scheme of white, black and pink as it looks simple yet girly, which will draw my target audience in. The language i used throughout my magazine was inoformal which will be easier and more fun for my audience to read. I included a Date competition in my magazine which i think will attract my teenage audience i also chose to use Justin Bieber as he is very popular at the moment.

By making the magazine cheap at only £3 this ill also attract my target audience.

6. What have you learnt from the process from constructing this product?

To create my music magazine i used photoshop elements 8, i had used used this program before in the preliminary task but only had the basic knowledge on how to use it over this task i have learnt more and now have a better knowledge and skills on how to use photoshop. I worked on the mac's to create some of my magazine which was difficult to get used to, however in the end got the hang of it. I also worked on photoshop at home on my laptop, as i do not have a mac by downoading the free trial. To take my pictures for my magazine i used my camera which is a panasonic lumix zx1 with 8x optical zoom and 12 mega pixels.

Before taking my pictures i had to plan several photo ideas for my 3 peices i also had to take into consideration location, lighting, props and background. For my front cover i wanted a plain background so i took my photos of my model in my house against a plain wall, however when coming to construct my magazine i realised i wanted a white background so i had to get rid of the background. I started off by using the magic selection tool to get rid of the main parts of background that the tool could detect. As her body blended in with the background too much i had to use the rubber tool to rub out the remaining parts which was very difficult. When i look back i should of taken the pictures on a contrasting background so she was easier to cut out. I also used the magnetic lassoo tool to cut her out. The other tools i learnt to use on photoshop whilst creating my magazine was the red eye tool, changing brightness/contrast of a photo, resizing/cropping photo's, rectangle tool, text tool, layers - arranging them, adding photo's and changing the canvas size to add a border. Other then using photoshop i used www.blogger.com as well to show stages of my work from beginning to end and upload images of my work. Although never used a blog before it was very easy to get used to. On my blog i have uploaded all the different stages i did to create my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

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

For my preliminary task i created a front cover and a contents page for a school magazine. At the beginning of the task i did not do nearly enough research that i needed to, i looked through some past examples to get a better idea. I planned a few things such as a number of titles for my magazine, stories i could use and produced a photo list of photo's i could include and location. I then produced 2 front cover sketches and 2 content page sketches. When producing my preliminary task on photoshop i only used the basic tools. Looking back at my prelininary task there is a vast improvement from then to now my final products. I think my magazine looks of a higher qaulity and standard and more professional. My preliminary did not have no conventions as there was no research or planning before creating it, however with my music magazine there was a lot of research into music magazines and conventions and a lot of planning from every aspect to help me create the best magazine i could for my target audience. This helped me to make my magazine look professional which was something my preliminary task did not. The planning helped me take better pictures and come up with better story idea's. At the start of the preliminary i could not really use photoshop very well so by the time i come to my final magazine i was able to use photoshop better and use the layers to give a more professional look to my magazine.

Stages of contents page

I carried out the colour theme and font from the front cover to give my magazine a house style and make it easy to recognise by the target audience, this will also makes my magazine appear professional and flow better. I began by opening up the jpeg of my title and copied and pasted it onto the contents i roated it slighly and positioned it in the top left corner. I then wrote inside above it in pink to match the colour scheme also in pink i wrote this week all in capital letters and pink. I also underlined the text so it was sectioning it off to the rest of the page. I chose to write this week as i didn't like the idea of just having contents. I then added the date of the magazine. To give the page a more finished feel i used the rectangle tool to create a small line at the bottom of the page and filled it pink to match the line underneath 'This week!'. Underneath the thin rectangle i placed website on the left side and the page number on the right in the corner i then opened up the mastehad jpeg and copied and pasted it onto the contents and changed the size to fit.




Next i added a box by using the rectangle tool i then added the text and arranged the layer so it was at the front so the text had a pink background. That was for one of my sub-headings. I wanted a few images on my contents page so, i chose one out of a photoshoot i did of a couple of my friends posing as a band 'Double take' i chose my favourite one cropped it and brightned the photo. To give the photo's a more finished look and to go with the colour scheme and layout of the contents i added a border around the photo by resizing the canvas size and adding roughly 0.5 cm. I placed the photo on the right side of the page underneath the date. I then used a photo i had taken from take that concert and added a border around that. For a final photo i used one from the photoshoot of my main model vicky and added a border around that too.







After looking at the layout i didnt really like it so i moved the photo's to the left side of the page and positioned them differently. I then used the rectangle tool and drew 2 pink boxes to be the background of the two sub-titles 'Features' and 'Regulars', this makes the sub-titles stand out to the reader even more.







The next step was adding the text, underneath each sub-heading i used separate text boxes for each peice of text. I used the same font i used on the front cover and carried it onto the contents. I put page number then drew a small rectangle using the rectangle tool seperating the number and the story and drew a thin line also by using the rectangle tool, between each story to give my magazine a more professional look. I also added the issue number under the date. I copied and pasted the front cover onto the contents as this is a convention of contents pages.






For the final stages, i decided to add one more image from a concert and added the page number by each image in a large font and black to match the colour scheme. I then positioned the front cover and turned it diagonally. I decided to do subscription box so i added the text then drew a rectangle filled it pink, i did not simplify the rectangle box so it was slightly different to the plain pink boxes surrounding 'features' and 'regulars' and arranged the text layer forward.

Stages of double page spread

This is my main image i wanted to use for the double page spread, so i started by editing the photo by brightening and also slightly increasing the contrast and using the red eye removal tool. As i wanted the photo to be in the bottom right hand corner i also flipped the photo so she was facing the other way. To keep with the colour scheme for my magazine i wanted to stick to have a white plain background to keep the page simple so i used the magic wand tool to cut out the background of the photo and this proved to be difficult as she blended in to much with the wall and floor so the parts the magic wand tool couldn't pick out i used the rubber tool and this didn't give it the cleanest finish i had hoped for as it was very hard to distinguish between her body and the background. After the background was erased i used the magnetic lassoo tool to cut her out and then copied and pasted her onto the blank a4 page i had created.

After I had copied and pasted her onto the blank a4 page I moved the image to where I wanted it: in the bottom right hand corner. I chose this image as it lines up with the bottom of the page and looks like she is lying across the bottom and leaning. I then used the text tool to write the page number in arial just a simple font and also wrote the website. I placed this on the bottom left hand corner of the page and then another text box for the page number of the other page and as I couldnt put it right in the corner as her hand was in the way i just placed the number beside it. Then using the rectangle tool i created a small rectangle and made it pink to go with my colour scheme. Then using the text tool wrote exclusive interview in the same font that i have used and will use throughout my magazine. I also wrote it in capital letters to stand out more and have more of an effect. I was going to write new beat in the same font but i have noticed that a convention of magazines is to use the same font of the title throughout the magazine when mentioning it. So as my title is saved as a jpeg image i copied and then pasted it onto the double page spread and made it smaller so it matched the same size as the text 'Exclusive interview'.

The next step was i added the title each word in different text boxes so they were different layers and so i was able to move and position them how i wanted them. I used the same font i used on the front cover and also the same colours, this time instead of alternating colours for each word i alternated between black and pink on each line. And then positioned it how i wanted it. Underneath the title i wrote a few sentences summarising the interview. This text will be slightly larger then the interview text so it stands out more. I also used black text as the text above is pink so its more eye catching to be black and also so it fits in with the colour scheme. Whilst looking at real examples of double page spreads and interview i noticed that in this section when mentioning the artist talking to the magazine when they write the name of the magazine they use them same font as the front cover and as i have already used that in the top right corner i thought it would fit well again and i have also noticed it is a convention. I copied and pasted the text and made it smaller to be the same size as the normal font. In the space beside the model on the right side i added a picture of her 'sister' Pixie Lott. To give the picture more of a finished look for a magazine and to match my colour scheme i added a small pink border around the picture. To do this i went on resize, canvas size and added approx. 0.5 cm around it and changed the colour to pink. This gave the photo a thin pink border and i then copied and pasted it onto the double page spread and resized to fit where i wanted to place it. Underneath the photo i added a little caption a convention of magazines i have looked and used the font arial.

Another convention i have come across is when having a interview in a magazine the artist usually promotes their new album/single coming out and there is normally a picture of it and the date. I used this picture of my model as she has headphones on and i liked the look of it for an album cover. To create the album cover i first started by zooming in as i wanted a close up, i then cropped the image so there was so unecessary background. To get rid of the background i used the rubber and changed the colour to grey. I then added the text Emily Lott in font georgia and unleashed underneath diagonally in font lucida handwriting.

The next step was adding the smaller photo's from the photoshoot i chose my 2 favourite photo's and edited both by cropping them so there was not too much background and increased the brightness and contrast to give the photo's more of a summery feel as the photo's were taking in the sunshine on the grass. I then added a pink border so they would match the photo of Pixie i done this the same way by slightly increasing the canvas size. I also changed the picture of Pixie as i remembered that my cousin had pictures of her when she went to one of her gigs so i changed the picture for one of them i also edited the photo by increasing brightness and contrast. And added the border again.

Next it was time to add the main text. The double page spread was going to be an interview between the magazine and a Emily Lott. I looked through a few magazine interviews to give me an insight on some questions i could ask. I thought of a number of questions then started to add the text i used separate text boxes for the question and the answer. I was going to alternate the text from black to pink but as i had done that for the title i though it might be a bit too much and overwhelm the reader. So i did all text black but for the question made it bold so there was a slight difference. I moved all the text boxes so they were in line with the title and then had the same amount of space between each column. I then added a quote in a larger size font but still arial over the picture of 'Emily'. Underneath the album cover i added text in arial and italic and in pink so it stood out against all the black text.

When i looked at my final piece i realised i had forgot to use a centre line so there was no text covering it so i used the rectangle tool to create a thin line for the middle of the page so i knew where to move things around. I had to edit all the interview text take some parts out as there was too much to put into two columns and decreased the size of each separate text box, eventually i moved it all around so there was space left for the centre line then i took out the rectangle i drew in the middle. I later when on to add speech marks to the quote.

Stages of front cover

Stage one

This was the first front cover i started to create, however stopped as i started to create a different one as i like the text and photo better. The pose of the photo i liked and the way she looks like she is leaning against the edge of the magazine but i feel that her face is very blank and not friendly and welcoming to the magazine. I used the font pricedown from the website dafont.com. I changed the image size to fit the image size of the a4 page i then copied and pasted it onto the blank page and made it fit across the top unfortunately i didnt leave enough space to fit a banner across the top. I then used the magic wand and rubber tool to erase the background from the photo of vicky. After this was done i used the magnetic lassoo tool to cut her out then copied and pasted her on the front cover.

I chose this photo as she is smiling and her arms are open wide as if she is welcoming people to read the magazine. I edited the photo by brightening it and removing the 'red eyes' i continued by opening up a new a4 blank page on photoshop the text that i wanted for the masthead i found on a website dafont.com and i tried to download it but it did not work so to proceed i print screened the page and cut out the text and saved it as a jpeg. I preferred this font to the other one as the stars and more rounded letters give it more of a pop feel which is what my genre is. I opened it up on photoshop and changed the image size so it would be big enough and fit on the top of the a4 blank page. I then cut and pasted it on to the blank page and made it fit i placed it at the top however leaving a gap bwetween the text and the top of the page to put my banner. I changed the photo of vicky's image size to match the blank page. I then used the magic wand tool to cut out the background however as it was a creme wall vicky blended in to much with the background so after the magic wand tool cut out as much as it could of the background i used the rubber tool to rub out the leftover backgrounds and all the hard little details bits which was quite difficult but finally after i done this, i then used the magnetic lassoo tool to cut around vicky and copied and pasted the cutout image on to the a4 page with the masthead. The position where i wanted vicky on the page the text was covering part of her head and as i didnt want this i changed it so the text was behind her only slightly covered by her which is a convention of magazines that i have looked at.

Stage 2

To fill the space above the masthead i put a text box consisting of 'Top 10 artists for this summer!' in pink to go with my colour scheme.  Then below the masthead on the right i put another text box for the date of the magazine and the price i made the text fit around the star.  Underneath i used another text box for the website of the magazine.  For the headline story i didn't know where would be best to place it so using the same font: Ar essence and the same pink to go with my colour scheme and also stand out more, be more eye grabbing i placed the writing over her body centre and at the bottom of the page.  I then arranged it to bring the text layer forward to the writing is at the front and the image in the back.  I also experimented with making the headline story text black as well to see what colour worked best.

Stage 3

I decided that i did not like the position of the headline story and as i wanted my front cover to use left to right column alignment and the image of vicky to be the main feature.  I undid the original headline story text box and did another one consisting of just Emily in the same font still yet in black and slightly smaller i also used a lower case i as i liked the effect it gave and made her name look more girly.  I created another text box for her last name which was all in capital letters and to fit in with my colour scheme i used pink font and lined it up with Emily.  The only reason i used two separate  text boxes were to be able to move the names around and make the gap between them smaller.  Underneath this i used another text box for 'UNLEASHED' i used all capital letters however made the font slightly smaller so it did not take the focus away from her name as she is a new artist and not that well known.  Coordinating with the colour scheme i made the font black. I also rotated the text slightly as i think it worked well and matched the position of her open arms.  I added a barcode that i found on google and copied and pasted it onto my front cover and changed the size to fit.

Final stage

For the final stage i added the rest of the text and also made some adjustments.  I did not want too much text on the front cover as i wanted it to be plain and simple.  On the bottom left side of the page i added a selection of artists names that would be featured in my magazine.  I created a text box for the plus sign and made this black still in the same font.  I then used a separate text box for Katy Perry and made this pink, underneath i used another separate text box for Owl City coordinating the colours i made this black and also moved the text slightly to the left of Katy Perry's name.  The reason i started with pink first is so that the text would be visible over the black shorts otherwise the text would have blended in.  Under Owl city i used another separate text box for Lady GaGa and also made this text pink i lined this text up with the other pink text for Katy perry.  The last text box for Justin Bieber i used black font and also aligned it with the other black font.  I think using different text boxes for each piece of text helps make the writing look neater and as if it is all the same story. I arranged the text to bring it forward so it was on top of the image. Underneath the website address i used another text box for the issue number and aligned the text.  The text above the masthead i did not like so i added a rectangle to fit across the top of the page and filled it pink to match the colour scheme added a text box and changed from having a story across the top to a ----- saying Britains best-selling pop magazine. I used the same front and black.  I Decided to still use the story Top 10 artists for this summer but to move it to the top left side of the page.  

Final finishes/ adjustments

After this to add the final touches and adjustments i increased the size of the plus sign to make it stand out a lot more and moved all the text for the Top 10 artists for this summer and made it fit round her head shape so it was curved.