Evaluation

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

I feel that i've successfully created a music magazine that shows all the right codes and conventions. I have included regular conventions such as Masthead, Contents and a feature image. Typically for Indie or Rock music magazines they use colour themes such as red, whites, blues and yellows, which is the them I included in my magazine, I like the effect it gives and the mix between light and dark, makes it look more appealing to a wider audience. I feel my Masthead "Mime" is suitable as I based the Masthead on 'NME'. I feel MIME is suitable as it's easy to remember and it is also an abbreviation of Massive Indie Music Express. The name helps the audience know what genre of music my magazine is. I used typical phrases like " In the raw"- which is regularly used in indie or rock genre music magazines- to add effect, I feel it works well with my cover image and story.

How does you media product represent particular social groups?

I aimed my magazine on the Indie/ Rock stereotype. When researching I found that magazines such as NME, Q and MOJO also appeal to this particular audience. I looked at these magazines for inspiration and also to help me look at typical features such as clothing, style and appearance. My feature image represents my stereotype well by the clothing he is wearing, check shirts are usually worn by 'Indie' males. The 'moody' look is a look you see quite often in music magazines and also a 'silly' screaming look is regularly used, i incorporated the moody look to begin with and then realised every picture showed this expression, so on my second draft I took pictures resembling the silly, screaming happy look, this created a bit of variation between the pictures.
Also I researched what bands and singers would be appropriate for this genre of magazine. I started at looking a indie music magazines and then on youtube I listened to bands that I thought would be appropriate for my magazine. This helped me alot as it helped me to know who to write about etc. Also as I read indie music magazines this also has an advantage as I have some idea of what bands would be suitable.

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

I feel that the media institution best to represent my magazine would be IPC.  They currently represent NME magazine. As my magazine is very similar to NME I feel they might consider distributing mine. However issues I found was that if IPC already represent a magazine similar to mine, they might not want to deal with another one the same. This was something I considered.

 What would be the audience for your media product?

I feel my magazine would appeal to Teenagers, I feel it can also appeal to adults who like the genre of music. Typically the audience I appeal to would be stereotyped as 'indie', 'indie' stereotype consists of indie music, rock music, floral or check clothing etc. I would say it was a hippie/ punk look going on depending on the gender. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used a colour theme of red, yellow, black and blue. This gives an indication to what type of magazine mine is ( helps you to distinguish between different genres of music magazines) and also it creates the right sort of 'look'.  Also I used headlines like " Reading line up 2011" this also attracts the right audience as Reading Festival aims to the same audience as my magazine.

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

To create my product I had to use a variate of different technologies.
Camera: I had to use a camera to take all the images for my magazine, which include my main front cover image. I used an SLR camera which is slightly better than a digital camera as it has more settings for example macro and aperture. For my images I used Macro, as on this setting it makes the images a lot sharper and also a slightly better quality.
Microsoft publisher: This was the software I used to create my magazine as a whole. This software was very easy to use, which is a positive thing as i was able to make my magazine look good quite easily. The only issues I had with this software would be with the text boxes, sometimes I was unable to put two text boxes together without the back ground moving, luckily I managed to resolve this matter.
Blogspot.com : As you can tell, this website became very us full with the production of my magazine, I was able to write down all my planning, research, changes etc. This makes it easy to access my work and also easy to change and read my work.
Photoshop :  I used photoshop to edit my images. This enabled me to change my pictures and make them better. I used different techniques like black and white to change them in a more interesting way. I also merged two images together for a 'double image' look.

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

It's hard to compare between my finished product and my prelim as they're completely different genre/type of magazine. However like my prelim, for my main magazine I also thought of colour themes. props and clothing. What I found was the look of the people within the magazine, effect how your magazine will look and appear to others. For my prelim i had to practice using the different softwares,so this made the process of my main magazine a lot easier.

FRONT COVER.

Here is my front cover.

I tried to use a black, red, yellow and blue theme through out. I feel this is a good look and would definitely attract the audience I'm appealing to.

I chose the name MIME as it is catchy and looks appealing on my page. Also I asked a wide range of people, what name they prefer and this one was the one that came out top. Also I tried to make it represent NME magazine a little, so you can see the genre and style etc.

The main front cover image I feel is very gripping, I feel that it's the main eye focus point on the magazine. The position and expression of the boys face makes you feel as if he's looking at you. Editing his face to black expresses his moody expression, but contrasts with the colours of his top. This could make the buyer/reader suggest that there is two sides to the persons personality.

" DALLAS GREEN: TELLS US WHAT MAKES A MAN" is a play on words ( which fans would get : this helps attract the right audience) as him and his band actually sing a song called What makes a man.

^ This also relates to some of the questions in the interview as well

The headlines that I have chosen also represent my audience very well :

"401 Gigs Listed Inside" works well as the word "gigs" is regularly used by the indie/rock stereotype.

"READING LINE UP" definitely works well with my theme as reading is a place which also appeals to my audience (http://www.readingfestival.com/home/)

"Fenech Soler.Muse.Gallows.The Drums" the bottom bar of the page gives the reader an insight to what will be in the magazine, I've used this to attract the buyer. This also helps show the buyer what genre of magazine it is. 

The fonts I used for my front cover are : Super black, Times new roman and accord heavy. I think these are a good choice of fonts as they create the look I'm aiming for. It works well with the look I'm going for.

I priced my magazine at £2.00 as when I conducted my questionnaire the majority of people said this was the price they would be willing to pay, for a magazine like this. For people to see how much the magazine is, I have located the price in the bottom right hand corner just above the bar code. I feel that although it's not bold- which could be a disadvantage- the buyer will still be able to see it.

CONTENTS PAGE.



 Above is my contents page before I made changes to it. The bottom middle, where it says "BONUS EXCLUSIVE FREE ARCTIC MONKEYS CD. ONLY IN MIME"  within the yellow outline , is slightly off and has wide gaps, which is highly unappealing. If the words are closer together then it would make the page look good.  So with a few alterations I changed it so it looked more attractive and worked better with the page.

Here you can see the changes which I made. I put a black box around " Reading line up" to make it stand out more and I also made one of the texts closer together. The contents page now looks better than it did before

Layout : I chose to set it out in this way, as I have seen this layout been used in other indie magazines. I think it looks attractive and it's also very easy to read. The title "Inside this month" is good as it tells the audience that the magazine comes out monthly, and also its unique, it isn't like your normal title "contents". I carried on the colour theme that I have used on the front page. I feel that the colour blue,black and red works well on this page as the colours are quite bright and bold which makes the headings stand out more.

Images : One of the images I used I actually got off google, the image is a band called Fenech-Soler, as the band is an indie dance band, it means that this image is appropriate in my magazine. The second image is one I took myself, this image is of the same person who is on the front- this emphasises that he is the main feature within the magazine- the images is less serious than the one on the front page as I wanted to give the magazine a more 'fun' and easy going feel.

TWO PAGE SPREAD

Main Heading : Like on the front cover I used the saying " in the raw" to make the theme run though to the double page spread. I made the title bold to make the page look more appealing and to attract the reader. The heading is clear and easy to read, so you won't find it hard to understand what the page is about.

The main image is two images put together, I did this on photoshop, which I did using the layer tool to merge them together. The expression on the boys face is quite strong and sharp, slightly calm. He looks as if he is looking at the reader. Which could create a connection. On the second half of my two page spread, the image is at an odd angle, which is quite interesting. Using photoshop, I used a black and white tool then rubbed away at the second layer to make a hint of red shine through. I think this makes the picture look more effective. How ever a slight disadvantage to it, is that it's not anything you normally see in a magazine, but I wanted to create something different. I feel the slight colour of the top adds to the image, it makes it stand out more. Overall I like the images I have use, and I feel that they're portraying the effect I want.

Colours : Again I stuck to the red, yellow and blue theme on my two page spread. I've even made my images match the theme. I feel that if I had used a different theme on the two page spread, It would not have worked well within the magazine, and It wouldn't of created the right effect.

The questions I have used are relevant to the person I have interviewed.

Questions such as

"Alright Mate, How does it feel being back at MIME? It’s been a while!"

I wanted my magazine to be informal , I wanted to go with the friendly, slightly humorous sarcastic approach, which you would normally find in magazines such as NME.  I have put MIME in capitals, to make the name of the magazine stand out.

 "Yeah, you are pretty boring. Ha no I’m just kidding. So we hear your only doing one date this year, Why is this?"

This question shows the sarcastic approach I am aiming for.

"We heard you had a bust up with Alex Turner, last time you were in

London?"

The use of slang words "Bust" shows the audience I'm appealing to a younger audience, and trying to keep the informal appearance. Mentioning other indie singers, also expresses my music genre more as well. 


Layout : I feel that the layout I have created for these two pages works well, I feel that there is a good balance between the writing and pictures.Also its simple to read, your eyes know which bit to read next. I made funny or important quotes bolder to add to the effect, I think this also gives an indication to what sort of stuff will be in the interview, so I'm using it to act as a compound to draw the readers attention.

Media Magazine TWO

After looking at my current media magazine and reading back feedback from different people such as friends and teachers, I found there was quite a few faults with my magazine. I repeated certain images quite a few times which was one of my main faults. So when producing and changing my magazine I took this into consideration. I did this by changing the poses and the clothing the boy was wearing, this added variation to the images through out my magazine. Other ways I changed my magazine was by completly revamping the contents pages and the double page spread. I wanted to create a more 'out going' and more creative look to my magazine, instead of having the same continuous look that all magazines have. Ways in which I did this was by the colours and layouts, I tried creating better and different layouts, but at the same time making sure my audience still knows what the pages are about or what they are supposed to mean. Things I kept the same were the front cover, I personally liked the look of it. I feel the colour scheme I used represented the genre of magazine I was appealing too. I also feel that the headings I used were appropriate to my theme as well.

Changes I made

Starting from the beginning of my new and improved magazine :
CONTENTS:

I completely changed my contents page, I felt I could be more creative with it and also I felt my original didn't look quite right. There was something about it that just wasn't working. I kept the original colour theme I was going with and also the fonts I stuck with as well.

HERE IS THE OLD CONTENTS PAGE.

NEW CONTENTS PAGE

As you can see alot has changed. I think I made use of the space quite well. I tried to fill it as much as I could but at the same time keep it looking neat and readable. Like the old contents page I used one image which I took and edited (using photoshop) myself. The image I used before was like the rest of them, very bright, not very unique or wow about it and also he was wearing the same clothing as the rest of the images.

The image above is the main image for the contents page, I placed this image in the centre as to act as an important image and also to act as the main story. I made the image in black and white to add some depth and a unique effect to the magazine. As 'Indie' people are occasionally stereotyped as people who are into feelings and are seen as different, I wanted to play on this slightly, but at the same time not to make the magazine have a down effect to it. The clothing I chose for this image is stylish yet plain, I wanted the t-shirt and chino look which is quite classic yet also young. On photoshop I sharpened the image and also changed the image into black and white. I wanted to contrast the colours in the image. When taking the picture I took the image long ways in order to get the whole boys body and clothing in the picture. 

I included a red musical note to the right hand corner to add a unique touch to the image, I feel this works really well with my theme and colour schemes. This image I took off google, so it's a found image.

I placed a quote over the image. I did this in red to make the text stand out amongst the picture. The reason for the quote over the image, is I wanted to show that the image is a main artical within the magazine, if the reader is interested in the picture or the man within the picture then they will automatically want to read the article. However if people are unaware that the image and quote represent an article then I also included the page number in a bold black font, just to make it easier to find and also to make the audience aware of the article. 

Like my last contents page where I included the reading line up sign, I included it within my new and improved contents page as well, except this time I made the font and the black box around the font smaller in order to create the red arrows next to it. The reason I've included the arrows is to make the smaller box stand out more and also act as a decorative feature. The boldness of the design adds to the uniqueness of the magazine. and also works in well with the colour schemes. I've explained above briefly why I've included the reading festival within my magazine. 

The heading is reasonably the same as the last contents pages, however I made the font smaller and also I changed the background and added the MIME logo to the page as well. The reason for this is because I wanted to make room for more information and detail on the page, the heading is still big enough to understand and also works as a statement heading for the page. With the heading I continued with the black, red and white theme as it gives a sense of boldness to the font and page. The words 'this month' shows the readers that 1: The magazine is a monthly issue and 2: The reader can automatically see what the page will be about and also keeps it brief so they'll have to acknowledge the rest of the page - this could work in my advantage as they could look down and see the offer box, trying to sell a subscription of the magazine. 

Instead of a list of articals and features I chose to use something called a band index, which I saw that magazines such as Q and NME has previously done. I chose to use this feature because it adds a certain uniqueness to the contents page, I like this because the readers of the magazines could look down the list, find which artists and bands they like and simply go to the page there interested band is on. This works well for my magazine because it leaves space to fill my contents page with other important features. I put the list in alphabetical order just to create a neat and professional look to it also. 

Like everything else this too matches my colour schemes. 

  DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

I'm really impressed on how my new double page spread has come out, I feel that it still works well with the genre and look I'm aiming for but it also adds a slight originality to it. 

I kept the same image as the one on the previous double page spread, however I placed it inside a white box, and tilted it to the right to give a 'poleroid' effect. I think this makes the picture look more interesting. Also it adds a bit of 'wow' to the page, and attracts your attention. In this image I made the boy where a check shirt, this shows he suits the genre of magazine. For the effects on the picture, I changed the image into black and white on photoshop and then using a faded weakened brush, I rubbed out his shirt to create the gradual colour effect. I think this has worked well.