Evaluation: Question 7

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

 
My full cover                                      My preliminary cover

 
My full contents page                         My preliminary contents page

My final cover looks much more professional;

-          The editing of the picture for the final magazine looks more real as I had a better grasp of Photoshop,
-          The articles are in line (compared to all over the place in prelim),
-          The font is much more visible on the final one.
-          The font for the final one fits much better with the style of the magazine.
-          The picture in the prelim magazine looks as if it is spontaneous not planned.
-          The final has a bar code, allowing the customers to pay for it; however, it isn’t needed in the prelim magazine as it is free.
-          The title is much brighter in the final magazine, grabbing the consumers’ attention.
-          The layout of the final magazine is much neater and more professional than the prelim which is all over the place in terms of layout

I feel I have evolved much more advanced editing skills, especially on Photoshop. As the picture in the finished cover looks realistic, whereas the eyes and teeth in the preliminary task quite frankly look scary. This is because I didn't know when to stop with the dodge tool, now though, I feel that my skills are much better, and I know the limits when editing a person to ensure that they look realistic. I feel that without doing the preliminary product, however, my final piece would have been just as bad as my Photoshop skills wouldn't have been as finely tuned as they are now.

I have also learnt new skills on Photoshop, how to add makeup for example, which I did with the dodge tool on the cover picture as it wasn't quite how I wanted it.

When it comes to layout skills on InDesign, my skills have improved drastically, as I was new to using InDesign, and found it extremely complex, so not knowing how to layout a magazine didn't help here at all.
After looking at other covers for both tasks, I found it easier to see how to lay things out, however, for my preliminary products the layout is too spaced out and doesn't look professional (although that may have something to do with the fact that I just looked at magazines other students had made to help make mine). For my finished products I had a much better idea of what I was doing, and they look much more professional, this is shown a greatly with each comparison, as the article titles are all over the place on the preliminary cover, and are too spaced out on the contents page.
Another thing that has improved is my idea of what fonts should be used. The preliminary tasks use a calligraphy type font for the front cover in too many colours that doesn't look good, and a simple font for the rest of it that looks amateurish which looks even worse paired with the overly-big numbers.

I think I can safely say that I have learnt a lot more when it comes to what does and doesn't work in a magazine since my preliminary task, and that the preliminary task helped my to hone my editing skills.

Evaluation: Question 6

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

At the beginning of the course I found using technologies I used, i.e. Adobe InDesign and adobe Photoshop, very complex as I had not previously used them before. However, after using them for months and getting used to the controls and different features of the programmes through watching YouTube videos, teachers help, and general practice, I feel I have gotten a lot better at using them.
For example, at the beginning of the year, I would have found it difficult to tell you where the dodge tool was on Photoshop. Now I can move a person to a different place on a photo using the quick select tool, and fill in the missing space with the clone stamp, spot healing tool, and blur tool, making it look like it was always there.
I am a lot more comfortable with using the technologies now and have learnt many new and useful skills from them as demonstrated in my work.

Evaluation: Question 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract my audience I included a wide range of artists and music in my magazine, both oldies and debuting artists. Because of this wider range, I believe that more people will buy 'M', as people who are familiar with a certain artist may see them on the front page, and because of that recognition, buy the magazine.
There is a large picture of the featured artist; Lola Summers, on the front cover of my magazine, in order to draw in fans of them. As she is young. like my target audience, it is likely more people would read it as they can relate to her more easily.
The bright colours on the front page; red, white and blue, as well as my bright masthead, help to attract my audience as they are more inclined to pick up something that look fun and interesting, as these colours are.
I have used a conventional layout to address my audience, as a confusing cover page is more likely to push potential buyers away, rather than attract them, so the title is at the top, the picture is in the middle and the article titles are around the edge, as most magazines are laid out.
Things like font were also taken into consideration, so I have used a bold font, as it looks exciting and grabs attention. The button on the cover looks different, so will attract my audience as they are individual and will appreciate something which looks original.

Evaluation: Question 4

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

My target audience is fans of indie music aged between 18 and 21, as this was the age range which most people buying music magazines were in. However, as I feel that this is a very exclusive and small range, it will be extended to a secondary audience of 16 to 25 year olds.
The magazine will be mostly gender neutral, with a slight lean towards women as many music magazines are aimed towards men.
I am doing this because I feel there is a gap in the market for a younger, fresher magazine, and because of this, I feel that it would sell well.
The typical 'M' reaader will be young, fun-loving, up to date, and alternative (as this is the sort of music which will be featured in my magazine).

Evaluation: Question 2

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

My media product represents a younger indie social group through the use of brighter colours (red, white) which appeal to a younger audience, and the inclusion of obscure and indie artists in the content of the magazine.
The inclusion of top 10s and other such lists encourages the readers to get involved and go and see for themselves if they are really that good, and the interactive features of the completions and the website encourage readers interact with the magazine itself and have a say in what is written, making the magazine a form of we-media, written by the people for the people, because although it will be written by journalists it will have the readers input in it. This interactivity is something that appeals much more to a younger audience of around the age of my target audience, as this generation is a digital age, and people's opinion is something that is shared widely, especially the indie social group, as indies are independent thinkers so will all have their own opinion on things. If my magazine can include this feature then it will appeal to this social group more.

Evaluation: Question 1

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

My media product imitates the conventions of the indie-rock music magazines by sticking to the general bold writing, the fun-loving artists (which I have imitated in my photographs), and the colour red which seemed to be a very popular colour used for this genre.
I have chosen the same distributor (Bauer media) as many other music magazines, including 'Q'.
I have designed my double page spread article to be a Q & A, which is typical of music magazines, and have kept one page for the picture and the other for mainly writing. However, I have challenged conventions here by keeping the picture running throughout both pages and using the picture as a background to my article which worked as this was snow so the black writing showed up well.
My contents page was heavily influenced by 'Q', using a red, white and black colour scheme and keeping the article titles to the left and the pictures to the right. However, I developed the style to suit my magazine by having a letter from the editor, a column on the right hand side containing a list of artists, and a much larger 'monthly' section.
I felt that by doing this I could entice a larger devoted following as having more monthly articles meant that there was more for people to enjoy, whether they were into festivals or competitions. Another way in which I developed my magazine away from conventions was by including a large amount of content on festivals rather than artists (although I still had plenty of those). This meant that my demographic was kept to my younger target audience as younger people tend to go to festivals.

Contents page

My finished contents page:

I have added in another line at the bottom to create a slight border.
The letter from the editor has been moved to be smaller and I have moved the picture to the corner as the writing going around the picture wasn't very readable.
I have increased the number of articles and decreased the font size to make the page look more full, and given the feature of the issue; Lola Summers, her own section, named 'Summer special'. This part is boarded by yellow and the colour of the title and numbers is the same yellow, which is a summery colour.
The monthly articles section has been increased to fill up the space underneath the photo.
The fonts have all been changed to the same as on the cover; market deco, and the descriptions are all kartika. This is because I felt the other font; outsiders, didn't work with the genre of the magazine.
The title of the column; 'M's 10 debut acts' has been changed to 'watch this space' as I felt there were too many top 10s etc. in the issue.

Cover

This is my finished cover. The only thing I have changed from the last draft is the font, as I felt that the last font didn't fit with the style of the magazine. Now it is all the same font so it fits in better with the rest of the magazine. 

Double page spread

Draft 1:

 

The picture looks good for the background as there is not too much going on, and links in with the title well. The artist looks like she is having fun and so creates a sense of informality with the reader. Also the coloured model stands out well against the black and white background.

The split between the music artist’s side of the picture and the writing makes the page look neat.

The font is too formal for this magazine.

The use of the columned writing makes it look more professional as most magazines use columns to write their articles.

The different coloured quote looks good, giving an insight in to the article, however, it isn’t bright enough to draw the reader’s attention, this needs to be bolder.

The caption underneath the title gives a brief description about the article, helping the reader to decide whether or not they want to read the article. The writing is not very visible against the black trees, it needs to be bolder.

The title quote of the album name, ‘snowfall’ lets fans recognise that it is about the artist’s new album.

Final:

The shortening of the title looks much better and fits in better with the article content.

The font change fits in much better with the style of the magazine.

The underneath the title caption is much clearer as it has been enlarged and made bolder.

The quote is much clearer as the spacing around it is bigger and it has been made bolder and larger.





Cover drafts

Draft 1:

 

The masthead is bold and bright, which catches the consumers eye and draws attention to the magazine, helping it to sell.

The colour scheme is red, white and blue. I have taken inspiration from ‘Q’ and ‘Spin’ here. The colours complement each other and the repetition of the colours creates a sense of cohesion.

The typo of ‘Found out’ looks unprofessional; it needs to be ‘find out’.

The blue bars separate the articles, making it clear that they are different from each other and making the front cover neater by keeping them in their own section. I have taken inspiration from ‘Spin’ and ‘Q’ for this

The use of the logo in ‘M50’ gives the magazine its own brand and makes the list the magazines own.

The font sizes of the article titles and content are different, making the article titles stand out more than the content to catch the reader’s eye and then give more information.

The main featured article title is placed separately; this shows the importance of the article by making it clearer for the audience to read. The fact that it is closer to the top than the other articles shows that it is higher up in importance.

The close up of the models face, and the fact that she is looking into the camera creates eye contact creates a link with the audience and encourages them to buy it as the front page model is looking at them. The picture also takes up the whole page making it look fuller and busier without looking cluttered.

The button makes the competition stand out. The fact that it looks as if it has just been stuck on to the cover makes it look casual and creates an informal link between the audience and the editor.

Draft 2:

The font types have been changed. This makes it look a lot better as the titles are in a different font from the information, making it clear that they are the titles. Also the font types fit in better with the style of my magazine and are more interesting than the previous font.

I have moved the font to the side. This makes it look neater; it also covers less of the model’s face, and is more visible on the darker background of her hair.

I have rotated the button slightly. This makes it seem even more of a last minute stuck-on thing as it isn’t even on straight.

 

I have added a bar code. This makes it look more professional as it gives the shop assistant something to scan when people buy it.

Contents page drafts

This is my first draft of my contents page:

The title is too small, it isn't clear enough that this is the contents page. However, the use and placing of the logo is good, as it creates a sense of cohesion, carrying on the logo from the cover. 

The colour change on the numbers separate them from the rest of the chunk of writing, making it easier to read the page numbers. However, I don't like the font for the numbers (or any of the page), it doesn't look professional, only messy and difficult to read. 

The page is too blank. It needs more article titles to fill it, and things need moving around so the page doesn't look so empty. 

The colours: red, white and black, continue onto this page, creating a sort of house style and a sense of cohesion throughout the magazine. 

The use of the column here makes the article stand out, thus the audience will be more likely to read it. 

The article 'Competition time' is not in line with the rest of the articles, making the page look messy and unprofessional. Also the gap underneath it doesn't look good. 

There is not enough written in the 'letter from the editor' is relation to the amount of space given to it. There needs to be more written here. 

My second draft:

The title is a much better size and font. It spans most of the width of the page, and the thickness of the bar makes the page look fuller, and draws attention to the fact that it is the contents page. Also the addition of the website promotes the online version and creates an interactive feature, so the audience can get involved.

The line on the left-hand side creates a border, boxing in the writing and making it look neater. The smaller grey bars between pictures and writing also have this effect, but to a lesser extent. 

The page looks busy, thus making the magazine look like it has a lot to offer. However, I think there could be more article titles. 

The subheadings, 'Features' and 'Monthly articles' are in their own boxes, and written in the same font as 'contents'. This separates the page out, so the reader will not be daunted or bored by looking at one massive chunk of writing. The use of subheadings also make it easier for the audience to locate the article they are looking for. 

I have added a different coloured box for the 'letter from the editor', giving it a clearer title and separating it from the rest of the page. 

The 'letter from the editor' also has more words in it, and looks fuller. The picture has been placed in the middle of the writing to create more room for the rest of the page, and to create a different effect in this part of the magazine as the writing goes around the edges of the picture

The page numbers are easier to read, and are separated from the article titles both by the different colour, and by the '|'. 

The enlargement of the titles makes them more visible than the less important descriptions, catching the reader's eye before enticing them to read on.

The column at the right-hand side looks better due to the smaller size of the circle, and the change of font. Although the spacing of the names is not quite right, I do not feel that it affects the page drastically as it is only the names of the debut acts. 

The bar on the picture makes it clear that the picture is part of that article. 

Editing

To edit the photos I used the dodge tool to brighten the eyes and teeth, and the spot healing tool to remove blemishes.
On the cover photo I also used the burn tool to darken the area surrounding the hair and face.
Editing the double page spread photo took a long time.
First of all I selected the model using the quick selection tool.
Then I moved her to another area of the photo. (I did this so I had an area to write on for my double page spread)
To fill in the blank space left by moving her, I used the clone stamp tool to recreate the trees in the background. This took a long time, as replacing the background from nothing meant having to line up trees etc. Because of this, any imperfections really stood out.
I used the spot healing tool to remove imperfections in the snow, the fencing behind the trees, and the bench.
I increased the vibrancy of the photo, and changed the background to black and white.
The edited photo before:

And after: