Magazine

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

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

When creating my final product, I used a variety of hardware and software, and in the process learnt a lot about them. The main piece of software I used was Adobe InDesign as it was the programme I used to primarily design and create my magazine. I had no experience in using the software before I initially started making the magazine. However in using Adobe InDesign top create and develop my magazine, I followed tutorials in order to give my music magazine a strong and professional layout. I used tools for aspects of my magazine such as making pull out quotes to make the magazine look more interesting. Adobe InDesign is usually the software that most if not all magazine companies use to create their magazine, i.e. companies such as NME and Q.

As well as using Adobe InDesign to create the main format and basis of the magazine, I also used Adobe Photoshop especially for the editing of my photos that were included within the magazine of which was not available in InDesign. I used the programme for basic editing of my photos, such as airbrushing with the blemish tools and adjusting to the correct lightings for the pictures, as that is a familiar convention used in all magazines, not just in music. I did this on all of my pictures in order to give my magazine and professional and well polished look as well to adhere with the typical media conventions. Photoshop was the perfect software to use to enhance my images and give my magazine a cool, yet original appearance.

The photos I edited on were shot in two different locations – one being the schools studio and the other being in and around the school. For my studio photo shoot, I used a variety of different models, their names were, Jessica, Tia, Ross and Jemini. I used a white background for most of my photo shoots which may or may not have been the wrong decisions as my images did turn out to be very bland. The lights which I used were the Interfit Stellar X studio flash lights and the camera I shot on was a Cannon 550D Digital SLR Camera. I used a prime lens which has a fixed zoom; the camera also allows you to take pictures manually and automatically. The 50mm lens acts like an 85mm and I chose to use this lens as I learnt that it was ideal for portrait shots which are what I used primarily in my photo shoot as this reflects the shot styling of most magazines. The camera had a 1.8 adjustable aperture which is the cheaper alternative to the zoom lens but still worked just as successfully for my desired shots. I used this camera as a hand held as opposed to on a tripod to create a more natural variety of shots and angles of the cameras.

 

 

 

Equipment

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

The type of magazine I have produced is predominantly for the 16-21 age range and for both genders. What I believe is young readers tend to be more interested in magazines that do not just focus on one group, whether that would be male or female or young artists/old artists. This is supported by the fact that young readers are more interested in new music, of which has recently come out, for example, the new songs from Fifty Shades of Grey. What they also like to read and hear about is the latest gossip about albums, artists and generally the whole music industry. The audience data and the research I have done also shows how young people are more committed into finding out about new artists and release dates than adults from the ages of 23 onwards are. I feel as if the social class and gender of my readers is a lot wider my results highlighted, females and males were both interested in new media to keep up to date and to engage with their favourite artists. As my audience aren’t too old they would be computer literate so things like android phone apps and viewing my website would be extremely easy for them. This was useful as it meant that I knew I could add more features using social media into my magazine, for example, Youtube subscriptions, a Facebook page and an Instagram account. On my magazine front cover and in my contents page, I have also given readers a chance to win big prizes such as, tickets to Glastonbury Festival, meeting a band/artist. 

According to my research I found that my specific target audience enjoy going to festivals, gigs and subscribing to channels on YouTube. This helps me emphasise the fact that most of the people who I suppose will be attracted to my magazine will be from a middle class background which means they will be able to afford the above and my magazine. This helped me create further features in my magazine such as ‘Win tickets to Glastonbury, V fest and Reading’. I had to think quite a bit about the style of bands and artists in my magazine. The reason I only focused my attention on one genre was because pop has a variety of different paths it drifts down and therefore there is a lot if not too much to include, although stating this, it is harder because there is so much to include. At the moment, there are a lot of songs coming out into the pop industry and therefore a lot of different bands and artists grasping for attention. This means in terms of my magazine, the readers will already be educated and will know what the trend is at the moment and will only be catching up on most of the gossip in the magazine. From my research I found my target audience would rather I focused my attention on new up and coming bands and artists, with the popular artists included at the side. The audience and readers like to have their own taste and they are not scared of what others think and what they say about their choices in the taste of music. The pop lovers are mainly full of people who love fun, bubbly music and love to interact and find out more about their inspirations unlike any other genre. When thinking about the styles of artists I also had to think about the way I would present these bands. I had to makes sure the bands had attention grabbing headlines and the images were sharp, unique and interesting. I needed to make sure that my target audience would want to pick up the magazine and actually read it, therefore most of the magazine had to have certain features added to it that would definitely grab the reader’s attentions. I had to make sure it was unique to all other pop magazines and would appeal to my target audience, especially to the gender.

 

The audience for my magazine are those of who are from the ages of 16-21. The social class for my magazine will be grade A. this focuses on the upper middle class who are able to afford quite a bit. It may also be graded as class C1, this is lower middle class who are of an administrative job or professional job. These job types will have a big impact on my magazine as it will be the majority of my target audience. The psychographics of my magazine will apply to lovers of music festivals, gigs and those who enjoy reading and keeping up to date with the latest news and information about music and their favourite bands and artists. I feel as if my target audience are very individual and are independent people who do not like to follow the crowd, but will disperse onto many different paths in the pop genre. Their social habits will be consumption via hard copies from shops such as WHSmith and newsagents, as well as reading online or on apps as they enjoy to be on the go.

Magazine Production

Production Diary

During the last few weeks, I have been finishing off my magazine and starting the cokpletion of my Evalations for the magazine. So far I have completed questions 1-3 and I am starting on question 4.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

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

The institution which I have chosen to distribute my media product is Bauer Media. The reason I chose this institution is because they distribute some of the biggest magazines out there in the music industry. What I have taken into consideration is the fact there is going to be a fair amount if not a lot of competitiveness. I feel this competition is needed to get my magazine into the public and by having this level of competition, I feel like there will be a lot more advertising which would be good for my magazine due to the publicity of other magazines. Examples of other institutions that I could have chosen are IPC media and Future plc. Bauer is known to target young audiences, which is useful for my magazine as it is mainly based around that sort of age gap. The audience focus for this company are of both genders and young adults mainly, this would also benefit my magazine as I have based it around not just females but males too. However one thing I haven’t done particularly well was the fact that my pictures only included females, which would draw the attention of all males away. My main aim was to focus on an institution that would be able to portray my magazine in the most suitable way allowing people to see the message and context behind the magazine. The reason for which I have chosen this institution is because I believe that this would benefit the company as it would mean that they would mean they would be distributing a more varied group of magazines. This would attract more people, helping the market raise its profits. I would aspirate to market my magazine on a variety of platforms. Stating this, I feel it would be necessary and important to promote the magazine through social media. This has not only proved to be an effective and free from of advertising, but, it will also give readers a sense of community, fulfilling the atmosphere my magazine tends to be promoting. A few other ways of promoting my magazine through social media would be to use billboards, posters, radio/TV ads, especially in highly populated areas. These include buses and trains through rush hours, billboards around roads and streets, electronic billboards on the side of a motorway and maybe a couple hundred posters in shopping centres. Bauer media is a large German publishing company based in Hamburg, which operates in 15 countries worldwide. Since the company was founded in 1875, it has been privately-owned and under management by the Bauer family. The company was formally called Heinrich Bauer Verlag KG, abbreviated to HBV and usually shortened to H. Bauer. All of the magazines that Bauer publish are advertised as being men’s magazines. This is another reason why I chose this institution, as my magazine is unisex and not just based on one gender. Bauer media UK reaches over 22 million UK consumers every week through a portfolio of world-class, multi-platform media and entertainment brands including, heat, kiss, Grazia. Empire, Magic and Absolute Radio. It creates and curates entertaining media content that audiences love whenever, wherever and however they want through a multi-channel strategy and a focus on product excellence and audience insight. The company manages a portfolio of more than 600 magazines, over 400 digital products and 50 radio and TV stations around the world. Considering that Bauer’s media interests are on par with several of those families – worth around £300 a year in the UK and €2bn (£1.6bn) globally. Bauer Media's portfolio of influential media brands includes many of the best known magazines in the UK, which deliver excellent content to our audiences whenever, however and wherever they want. This provides an excellent platform for any business to reach their target audience through an effective magazine advertising campaign. In fact, in any given publication period 9.9m people in the UK will read a Bauer Media magazine. An example of how Bauer media affects a music magazine, is through Q. Q is the legendary monthly magazine which celebrates everything that’s great in rock and roll. Although the magazine I am producing isn’t rock and roll, I could still potentially use some ideas that work for any magazine. Since its launch 1986 it has painstakingly built an international reputation for quality amongst fans, stars and the music industry. With world-beating exclusives, definitive album reviews, outstanding production values and an inimitable sense of humour, Q shapes music in the UK and beyond. Q has featured the world’s biggest artists – from U2 to Adele, Oasis to Rihanna, Radiohead to Lady Gaga and more – on its landmark covers. Every month the magazine creates new stars and identifies what’s coming next. With Q’s online presence, a new interactive iPad edition, social media, Q radio, live events and of course the world famous annual Q awards – the most exclusive event in the music calendar – the message is everywhere. Music sounds better with Q. Q is the UK’s number one actively purchased music magazine. It’s more about quality, character, authority and opinion. Q stands for the music that matters, the stars who make it and the people who love it. They are trusted and influential. A positive review in Q can make a band’s career – and Q’s major interviews reverberate around the world. The audience is younger and more affluent than any other music monthly. 97% of readers rate Q as a quality magazine. In research it outperforms competitors on measures such as best interviews, writing and award winning photography. The f : m ratio for this magazine is 31.7%:68.3%. From the ages 15-24, 35.5% of people read the magazine, compared to those of 55-64, of which the percentage is only 3.1%. This is the reasons for which I would choose this intuition is because of the competition and the reviews and data that comes out of the reviews, which would potentially help my magazine to rise in the music industry and become a big factor of young peoples’ lives.

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

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

The genre I was planning to base my whole magazine around was pop. This meant the group or single artist I was planning to create had to be fun, bubbly and very outgoing, with a variation or costumes, tones and language. The pop culture uses soft instruments like pianos and guitars; however the instrument that is presented the most and makes a song/album by artists in the pop culture is the voice. The language in my article is very informal and I have included a few pull out quotes from the artists themselves. I have tried to portray the artist as very active and fun to be around. The reason for which I have portrayed the artist to be stereotypical to the genre is because to most young people out there, the pop industry has a high status when it comes to where people stand how they show themselves off to the world; having individuality and that sense of an enjoyable vibe to them. In the article itself, I chose language of which I thought would present the quality and personality. Instead of just advertising the personality and qualities of the artist, I also characterised the interviewer so they wouldn’t seem so dead and typical when asking the questions, but got involved with the conversation flow. The magazine is aimed at the social group C1 – E. This means I will be attracting those who are students, or young adults ranging from 16 – 21. These would be people who have a strong interest in Pop or R ‘n’ B music and the latest news/ gossip about the industry and the artists themselves. My model in my media product (Jeea Bakshi) is a young female, who is in character of an artist who was not a big deal before but has recently won the queen of pop title over. She is also the main feature in my magazine and the article. I would say her appearance could’ve have suited the genre more clearly and some of the pictures could’ve been lighter, but the ideas were there. Her appearance doesn't quite match that of the genre as much as it should. The clothes and all the characteristics should be fun and original; my model didn't represent this. When taking the pictures, I didn't take into consideration of the makeup or any other features which should be used when taking a photo-shoot. This meant the pictures for my magazine were not suited to the articles in it and wouldn't have drawn in many readers or beat the stereotype of the social group have a range of different poses and variations of body language in my pictures, of which some don’t necessarily match the genre or social group. Some of my pictures are very original, for example, the picture of the hands playing the piano and a picture of my model writing in her lyrics book on the bed, with lights hanging of the top of the bed; the lighting was quite good here too, dim but very vibrant as well. In some pictures, my models is also being interactive with the readers by having direct eye contact with them , making them just that bit more interested in the magazine/article. The different poses in each image show some kind of attitude and bring out 'female power' which is commonly not recognised in my social group unless they are big names in the industry, such as Beyoncé or J-Lo. The reason I have chosen female models and a female artist as my main model, is because 'female power' is slowly rising to the top again in the social group and so I decided to represent this through my media product. An essential part of trying to appeal different in the social group is by the props used. For example props that have been used are, guitar, piano, lyrics book etc. In my magazine, I have made sure that social groups can easily recognise the media product and let them know what the magazine will be about before reading it in my contents page. In one of my other pictures, you will see my other models (Tia, Jessica, Fereshta and Jemini) holding different props, which is a big giveaway of what type of magazine it is. Props like these have been used in order to emphasis the topic and the genre of the music within my magazine. I have also added a constant house style all the way through to ensure the magazine looks professional. The colours I have used are, Purple, Teal, and Black and White for the text, however I may change the picture on the front cover to a lighter picture and keep the text black all the way through, just as it is on my article and the subtext in the contents page. The reason I have used a range of different colours is to not just appeal to one gender but both, although I do admit my pictures don't exactly match this request. In my article, I have added a few pull out quotes of which are in bold and the text is teal. The logic behind this was for the quotes to appeal to the readers, audience and the critics. The lexis used for the article is mainly informal compared to the rest of the magazine, such as the contents page. I found that the more informal the article was, the more realistic it was. The lexis used is more appropriate and fit for my social group to read and understand. I feel as if the informal register makes the reader understand and interpret what they are reading, and feel like they are a part of the interview and the whole topic. After researching quite a bit of information on how other people have presented their magazines and structured the layout, I came to a conclusion of which brought me to the idea of being original with the social group. I managed to establish the fact that each individual artist/band has their own style, way of writing/composing music and way of living. I tried to interpret this within my magazine, although, like I expressed earlier, the lighting and some of the poses weren't of the right fit to my magazine. This is why I got opinions from my friends about what they thought and they mostly critiqued the photos and how they didn't fully match my genre/social group but looked more indie or rock. I took this into consideration and decided to change some of the photos and effects of them.

Audience Profile

Production Diary 11

Over the holidays, I worked on the homework set. As I didn't have any access to the Adobe Suite programmes, the homework set was the closest thing in improving our blog. The homework's we were set to do was moodboards, cover lines and proposal feedback. The moodboard was very similar to the image and name ideas posts, however this time I actually knew the name of my magazine and the types of images I wanted to use. The cover lines was just to place what was on our zovers of our magazines onto our blogs and the proposal feedback was as it says, a feedback from a few people on the proposal we wrote which included, the business model, target audience, purpose of the magazine, contents of feature article and the contents of the magazine. This week we will be working on finishing the draft of the magazine and updating all our blogs that we haven't yet or have to finish completing.