Main Task: Evaluation Q7

Q7. Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to a full product?

It has been a long time since I started the preliminary task, and I feel that

I have learnt a considerable amount over this time. After comparing my perliminary and main tasks i came to a conclusion. It seems that although I have not learnt much new techniques, I have gained a great understanding in the techniques conventions used to attract different target audiences, a great understanding in how to use and manipulate blogger.

When we started the project I had little knowledge of how magazines are supposed to look. I had read many magazine's, but never payed attention to their layouts and conventions, so I had no idea of where to put what. Thanks to my teachers I have gained an exceeding amount of knowledge on how a magazine is generally laid out, what conventions are, and even how the conventions of a magazine can vary based on different genres. I also learned about colours, how different colours connote different meanings, and what colours go together to make a good or bad colour scheme, and how to make text more readable by using strokes and other effects.

When we started the project I had no idea what blogger was, let alone how to use it. And although I prefer more interactive and visual blogs such as Tumblr, I feel that i have gained a great understanding in how to use blogger, how to upload pictures and even videos (although I did not upload any) and how to structure the posts of my blog. Lastly I learnt how to customise the layout, colour scheme and overall theme of my blog, helping improve the presentation of my work.

Main Task: Evaluation Q6

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

In terms of photography, I have learnt how big the effects of a low mega-pixel camera can be. For example, when taking pictures I was using a Powershot sx120 IS, which had a low mega pixel count, and resulted in my images looking low quality and a little fuzzy. When I tried to edit the photographs I had taken I noticed that I wasn't getting the desired results, and that transforming and enlarging the photographs caused pixilation. Also, some of the photographs I had taken where too dark. This is because the camera already had a poor flash, and at first I was not thinking about lighting, even though most of my original photographs where taken during the night. On top of this, I used the wrong ISO, which caused even more darkness and a grainy image.

After already selecting my images i began to learn about better camera quality's and how to get better images using the flash efficiently, but I did not learn these techniques in media.

I didn't learn as much while using Photoshop, as I have been familiar with Photoshop for a while now. I am also doing a course in graphic design, which gave me access to a number of Photoshop techniques beforehand. The lasso tools, the pen tool, Gaussian blur, layer strokes color overlay and gradients are just some of the techniques, which I am well acquainted with. Sadly I could not think of a way to use all of these techniques in Photoshop.

Main Task: Evaluation Q5

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Looking back at my audience research, there is a few things

which i did in order to attract my target audience to my

magazine. Starting with the front cover of my magazine, I included story's such as "Top 10 dubstep artists of the month" and an exclusive interview to draw my audience in. I did this because many of the people i asked could not decide between wether latest tracks or artists where more in a music magazine. Personally I felt that they are both important, as if you are a big music fan you will want to know what the latest and best tracks are and who is making them.

I also tried to make the pricing of my magazine relatively low, hoping that the low price would encourage people to buy it. Making my magazine cheap to purchase is a big risk when starting out, as you most usually wont have enough money to survive if you do not make a profit, but i was willing to take this risk.

Most of the people I questioned said that a notorious publisher is what makes them pick up a

magazine, but this is not the first thing that someone looks for when picking it up. So the

second most popular option was the subject/model on the front page of the magazine. I got my subject to dress up in simple yet colorful clothing. I used simple clothing because based on what I have seen from family, friends and Dubstep artists themselves, not every Dubstep fan is the same, and not all Dubstep fans like to dress in bizarre or even just eye catching clothing. Some just prefer simple. I specifically told my subject to wear colorful clothing, because Dubstep is well associated with the florescent lights and colors of electronic raves, and the vivid coloring demands attention from the readers eyes.

Another thing they said was that the contents of the magazine also matters, so i included a

small number of popular artists who could also be found in my magazine. This is helpful, as they might see the name of an artist which they are interested in, and seeing their name could make them pick up my magazine.

I believe that my contents page would also attract the attention of those who open my magazine for a closer look. This is because the contents page is simple, yet visual. I added a vector image of an artist included in my magazine, in order to break the conventions a little. I also did this because during my audience research, a few people said that they liked to read magazines which are interesting, vibrant and that look unusual. They said they where tired of seeing the same layouts in Dubstep magazines. One person went on to say "One of the things that Dubstep represents is rebellion, and it would be cool if you could find a way to represent that in the mag."

Another way in which I tried to make my magazine look rebellious is by breaking another convention. When you usually look at a contents page, it is laid out in columns. Instead of following this convention I chose to place the text in my contents page into 4 a box shaped, and broke it up into four categories:

Main Task: Evaluation Q4

Q4.Who would be the audience for your media product?

The genre of my magazine is dub-step/electronic music and I made use of bright coloring, vivid/saturated images and also a slight cartoon/comical contents page layout to ensure that I attract my desired target audience. I incorporated a cartoon/comical look into my contents page after researching a number of underground/grime/ Drum and Base magazines that used simple cartoon images of artists. These genres of music magazine also relate closely to dub-step in production/visuals/overall audience, which is why I chose to add the cartoon look into my magazine. You could say that my target audience is a subculture, as Dub-step has been branched off of similar genres such as a mix of underground grime and D&B, D&B and dance. I feel that I have targeted this audience directly, as my subject/model is dressed accordingly. He is wearing a bright red jumper, with jeans and a green belt and his earphones are hanging out. It is both eye catching and simple, as the vivid color of his jumper stands out and catches the attention of those who would view the magazine, but there is nothing unique about the styling or look of his clothes, which gives the feel of simplicity. Also, his earphones hanging out is a small detail but I feel that it, on its own bonds with the audience, as listening to music is a major part of their lives and gives both the simple and the extravagant viewers something to relate with.

This is the style found in the dress code of many famous Dub step and D&B artists, like Nero, chase and status and NETSKY.

This is a very simple styling/dress code and I felt that it was important to incorporate into my magazine as to not pinpoint a direct audience, and as a result appeal to a larger amount of people. At the same time you could say that those with an individual and unique style may be deterred in buying my magazine because of the simple look of my subject on the front page.

When looking at different drum and base, dub step and electronic artists I noticed that in their pictures are usually quite peculiar. Unlike other genres of music, artists from these genres use simple poses and expressions. I looked at a number of different artists to get an idea of how I wanted my model to look and eventually ended up with this:

I decided to use a simple pose and expression for my subject. It seems as though Dub-step and D&B artists like to give as little away in their expression as possible, so I gave my subject a serious expression and tried to make my him look mysterious and almost confused, so that when readers see his expression and will feel compelled to read his exclusive interview:

Main Task: Evaluation Q3

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Referring back to my case study of a publishing house, which I had to carry out in my planning and research, I have decided that Condé Nast would be the best and most likely candidate for publishing my magazine.

Firstly, Conde Nast publish a large range of magazines, with genres such as fashion, beauty etc. But these genres are targeted at an older female audience, aged 20 to around late 40's,whereas my magazine will attract the attention of a much younger and diverse audience, opening up a range of new opportunities and benefits for Condé Nast. Condé Nast would probably get attention for making such a brave move as to take on a magazine which is aimed at a completely different audience to what they are used to.

Secondly, Conde Nast publish a large amount of magazines throughout America and other international countries, but publish no existing Dubstep/Dance or even music magazines, which have been published under their name. For this reason I am compelled to believe that they would be interested and excited in publishing my magazine. Also, music has always had a link with fashion, which would be convenient for Condé Nast as the majority of magazines they publish are fashion magazines and fashion magazines are also currently one of their most popular published genres. This would help Conde Nast to obtain a big increase financially, as they will be gaining new readers each and every day. On top of this, a number of readers from their usual range of magazines will be interested and purchase my magazine too. They will also be able to use their international perks and capabilities to make my magazine available in various places around the world, reaching out to more fans and potential readers, as Dubstep is fast growing in popularity.

My magazine would most likely be available for subscription on the Conde Nast international or digital website, and I would distribute my magazine in HMV and Tesco.

I would distribute my magazine is HMV because it is notorious for its distribution of music related merchandise, and also a wide range of other items, such as books, dvd's and more. I think this is the perfect environment for my magazine to be sold in, as many music lovers are drawn to HMV daily to purchase new music albums, CD's etc.

I would distribute my magazine in Tesco supermarkets in order to reach out to a UK audience. In the UK Tesco is well known for its cheap, good quality merchandise, ranging from vegetables to kids toys. Tesco is visited by a massive amount of customers everyday, doing their monthly shopping, annual shopping, or on special shopping trips (christmas, easter, birthdays). Within all these visits there is a chance of a Dubstep, or maybe just a music fan picking up my magazine to purchase. The magazines stands are usually close to the entrance/exit or checkouts, so its even more likely for my target audience to pick up my magazine while out shopping.

Main Task: Evaluation Q2

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My music magazine focuses mainly on teens and young adults with an interest in Dubstep, aged between 15 and 33. My magazine is also focused on young adults who have an interest in genres such as Drum and Base, Indie Rock, Garage, and electronic, as these genres are closely related to Dubstep in many ways. This allows readers who have an interest in those other genres to relate to my magazine.

Despite this, looking through my magazine it seems that I have managed to target a narrow audience: a younger male audience, because the subjects I have used throughout the whole of magazine are young and male. I feel that although it seems this way, my magazine will still attract the attention of older people up to the age of 33 or 35 and also females, because many electronic artists are young and most are male, so this won’t restrict the capabilities of gaining a large audience ranged between different ages and sexes. I have constructed the magazine so that it doesn’t target a single religion or culture, as there is a large amount of diversity in cultures religions and communities when it comes to dub step and drum & base. I feel that in most genres the artists dress extravagantly in flashy and expensive clothing, where as in dub step and drum & base they dress in simple yet eye catching clothing. Bearing this in mind the subject on my front cover is dressed simply so that he represents this, giving the magazine a sense of reality and making it easier for the readers to relate, as many do not have large paying jobs to buy expensive clothing.

Main Task: Evaluation Q1

Q1. In what ways does your media product use,

develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Front cover:

At the beginning of our media project we analyzed music magazine covers, contents pages and double page spreads to look at the conventions used and to see whether/how any of them challenged typical conventions. There are many ways in which my music magazine uses typical conventions. It also attempts to develop and challenge some. I tried to incorporate the usual conventions in my music magazine as to make it more professional and realistic. Starting with my magazine front cover, the first convention I followed is the masthead. I used a large masthead and placed it at the top of the page, behind my subject’s head. I then used a font that I found on Photoshop called Bauhaus 93, as I felt the bulky 'bubble' text would fit in with the masthead name "liquid bass" as well as representing the dub step theme. After choosing the font, I used Photoshop to manipulate it and make some changes. I gave the word 'BASS' a black inner glow, a light blue stroke and added a bevel and emboss. I left the word 'liquid' with just a light blue stroke. Also, I placed the masthead behind my subject’s head, as it seems to give a professional look to my work, like a real magazine. The last

convention I followed regarding my masthead is placing a strap line at the top of my screen consisting of the names of a few well known dub step and dance artists: Chase and status, Skrillex, David Guetta and dead mau5.

Although I only found three music magazines with a strap line like this, and only one was a dance magazine, I still feel that this is a good convention to add to a magazine, giving the reader a few names to relate with, which is why I followed it.

The next two conventions, which I followed, are the barcode and the selling line. A barcode is used in every type and genre of magazine, as the distribution team adds it to the magazine instead of the design team. This is because the barcode has to be programmed in order to deal with commercial problems like the sorting and purchasing of the magazine. I added a selling line to the magazine as it is a

n important selling point of a magazine, and can be found on all magazines in some way or another. It is used by practically every magazine design team these days because it gives another chance to interact with your readers and reveals the main focus of my magazine to them. For this reason I felt it was incredibly necessary to include a selling line in my magazine.

I added a selling line to the magazine as it is an important selling point of a magazine, and can be found on all magazines in some way or another. It is used by practically every magazine design team these days

because it gives another chance to interact with your readers and reveals the main focus of my magazine to them. For this reason I felt it was incredibly necessary to include a selling line in my magazine

Another convention which I followed is cover-lines, most of which I placed in the left hand side. These have been widely used within the large majority of music magazines I have seen in my life, as they are another main factor used to draw the reader’s interest. Cover lines are predominantly brightly colored and laid out in straight, short paragraphs. As well as catching the readers attention, they also give the reader an insight into the contents of your magazine, allowing readers to make an instant decision on whether the magazine has information which will interest them or not. For this purpose it is important to ensure that your cover-lines are eye-catching, and that you can make them sound as interesting as possible while using very little words. The informing text is the same in all of my cover lines apart from the main cover line, which wrote using a number of different fonts. By doing this, I have challenged a convention, as it is rare for magazines to have a large number of different fonts on the front cover. This is because a large number of different fonts can become confusing for the readers and may deter them from picking up the ma

gazine. Challenging this particular convention was a risk, but I felt that the jumble of fonts will bring the words 'messy' and 'madness' to mind, which are often seen to be related to the dub step and dance theme. I placed my main cover-line on the bottom left of my front cover, so that the right side of my magazine.

In terms of the image, which I used for my magazine cover, I found that there isn’t a “dominant” or “popular” preference when it comes to choosing your camera angle/shot. A good camera shot to use would be a medium close up, as it only shows the face, allowing you to communicate to you’re target audience using nothing but your model/subjects expression alone. This is good for R&B and rap magazines, as artists from those genres are m

ost often perceived to be angry, rough or have an attitude. For my magazine I decided to use a medium long shot of my model/subject, as I felt that his laid back/casual posture was very similar to the attitude you see in dub step, D&B, and dance these days, as similar to rock artists they portray a kind of rebel persona. Also I felt that my model/subjects posture was an important part of the image.

Contents page:

Next comes the contents page. Being the second page, usually coming directly after your front page (or sometimes separated by advertisements), the contents page needs to be consistent; in terms of theme, mood and colour scheme. The first convention which i displayed in my contents page was categories. This is the most recognisable convention, and it could be argued that it is categories are so widely used and accepted that they have become necessary. Although i followed this convention, I did not style my categories in a usual manner. It is most common for categories to be placed on the side, or in the middle of the page as vertical lists.

I originally chose to lay my contents page out like this because I intended to place a number of corner stops and vectors around the side of the page on photoshop. As I could not find a way of continuing this on the front cover I decided to discontinue it, leaving my contents page looking empty and dull, a serious mistake. The next convention i followed was including photos to go with the story's. This convention is used constantly within the industry, and again, seems to be a convention which is always followed.

Usually there is at least three images included on a contents page, to give readers a visual idea of what they will find in your magazine. I placed two images on my contents page, as the cartoon vector on the right hand side took up a generous amount of space and already gave my contents page a strong visual boost. Also, I had quite a few story's which I wanted to include in the contents page, and felt that if I added more images I would not have enough space for the text.

Double page spread:

Moving swiftly on to my double page spread, believe I followed almost every convention in an attempt to make my magazine look more professional. I tried to keep it simple, using a black and red gradient for my background as to continue the look which I established on my contents page. The left side contained the image of my subjects, while the right side contained my columns of text. I placed a quote from the subjects above their image, and placed the title on the right side above the columns. The font which i used was very simple, and I feel it fits best with the subjects as they supposed to represent neutrality. I continued to use the same font for the main text as i have used in the contents page and front cover, as this helps to make the magazine look more professional as a hole. I used a blue stroke around the quote and title, so that readers would have no difficulty reading the text. As the main text is white I decided that I would not need to use a stroke for it. my text was arranged in two columns, as to follow the usual conventions of a double page spread and also to help make the page look neat and tidy.