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

 

Creating my school magazine helped me anticipate what I would need to do for my final product and I found it very helpful. 

My final product is very different from my preliminary task. I wanted my final piece to be amazing compared to my first one, which I feel I have done. I purposefully tried to outdo myself on my music magazine and I am very happy with the result. I have learnt to pay more attention to detail and to be more spacialy aware 

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

During the creation process, I was able to experiment with some technologies which i have never used before. 
To take my images, I used my personal digital camera, which I am very familiar with. 
I then used Photoshop Elements 8 to manipulate my images. I had this programme on my personal laptop so I had the chance to really find out what it could do which helped me alot.
I then used Adobe InDesign to create my actual pages. The huge variety of elements avaliable was very educational for me, as i got to do things I was unable to do on any other programme.
Paintshop Pro allowed me to manipulate my images such as removing and replacing backgrounds, changing colours and much more.
I have learned alot about magazine production and how much technology is needed to produce a page

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

For my magazine planning, attracting my audience was mostly research based. My reader profile is very similar to myself, so I used that as a base. I looked through tons of different types of music magazines to see which ones drew me in and made me want to read it. I found that bands on covers attracted me alot, so I used that on my cover. The colour red also came up alot, and was common in the better magazines which I would want to take elements from. 
On my double page spread, i kept the red theme going, and took the 'personal experience' route. The articles that affected me most were ones I could relate to as a music fan, and I wanted to create that sense of empathy with my audience. It almost creates a relationship between the magazine and the reader, or even between readers and other readers.
My contents page had to be busy. I found that bland contents pages were very ineffective and I tended to overlook them easily. I wanted to make it busy but clear, and I think I did that. A neat page anywhere in my magazine really would not have expressed the personality of the readers I was trying to reach.

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

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

The distributor of a magazine is responsible for maximising magazine sales in the most cost-effective way. They have to understand the audience in order to develop effective strategies for driving category sales.

My researched distributer is Frontline. Frontline distribute over 180 of their partner’s magazine titles, including 70 of the top 200 best selling titles in the UK and are the biggest magazine distributor in the country. My magazine would be transferred from the publication to the wholesaler through distribution.

By becoming a brand of their own, 'This Is Suffering' could secure a trusting and loyal audience through the distribution of any magazine they choose to feature in.

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

In my audience profile, I said i aimed to reach people who like attending gigs and concerts, and get excited about local music, whilst embracing legendary creations. I feel I have reached these people in my images, text, layout and colour scheme.
Though the main image of my cover is all male, I used subsidary images including females to make it appeal to both genders. 
the colour scheme is prodominantly red, white and black, which i feel appeals to everybody who enjoys live and local music. 

 

My article is very personal, and I thought that the reader could easily read and relate to it, even though they were not there. I tried to generalise experiences and interests to appeal to my target audience, such as going to gigs. My masthead 'TIKIT' is meant to reach anybody who goes to live events, which is the group of people i am mostly trying to attract.

 

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

 The Front Cover.



I feel my front cover is quite conventional in comparison to other music magazines that I have researched and studied. My main image, I feel, challenges forms and conventions by using a live 
action shot of the band, whereas generally in magazines, there is a posed shot of the band offstage. As a live music magazine, I think this image is appropriate to the subject. I have included features such as banners at the top and bottom of the page. This is generally common within all magazines, and helps the page flow like a real product. Other features such as posters and competitions gives the feel of a more traditional magazine, with the main image being the exception. Small details have been paid attention to, such as barcodes, issue numbers, prices etc. This also adds to the feel of this being a traditional music magazine. I have taken inspiration from several different magazines, some of which are shown below.

 

Double Page Spread.

I tried to create a new sense of exploration with my double page. As the article was about personal experiences from the view of a journalist, I thought a scrap book theme would be appropriate. I placed my images carefully to create a homely feel and help the reader relate to the article. 

  I tried to add small details such as page numbers and email addresses to make it more conventional. I used my masthead idea to make my page numbers, which I think has worked really well. I used bold, coloured writing in my article to emphasise parts of it that could possibly further engage the reader. I have seen this used in magazines before and thought it was a good element to include. I also saw the idea of the huge letter at the start of the article. I think this gives a depth to the page, and makes it look more like a real magazine. I included a snappy title for my article, which I think works well with the images and the article. Below are some examples of magazines I took inspiration from.

 

 

Contents Page.

I think my contents page is the most conformative of all of my pages. I tried to keep as much to forms and conventions as i could to make it look as real as possible.

  These pages were mostly inspired by Q magazine. I tried to add every detail possible, such as names, email addresses, page numbers and even borders. The images, I feel, are placed well and it looks full and busy without looking cluttered and confusing. Below is a page i used as inspiration.

 

 

 

 

Contents Page. Version 3

 

this is the final version of my contents page. i think it flows well and is easy to use, without being too cluttered. I am very happy with these pages

Contents Page. Version 2

in this version i included more elements on the left of the double page, adding another article and subsidary image which i think suits the page.

Contents Page. Version 1

 

This is the first version of my contents page. I took inspiration from Q magazine and tried to add as many new elements as possible, such as my personal masthead and image.

'Tikit' Front Cover, Attempt 2, Version 5

This is the final version of my second cover, which I will be using as my final product. I added more subsidary images to the sell lines to make the page more interesting for the consumer. I also took inspiration from 'Q' magazine and used a plus sign to point out more factors included in the magazine. I am much more comfortable with using this version of my cover, as I feel it is more conventional and generally looks more appealing.

'Tikit' Front Cover, Attempt 2, Version 4

Here, I added a subsidary image to the bottom of my page, acting as a poster that can be found inside the magazine. I also added a banner to the bottom to explain the image to the reader.

'Tikit' Front Cover, Attempt 2, Version 3.

Here, I added a banner to the top of my page to try and conform to the layouts of other magazines. I also added a competition reference to expand what could be inside the magazine, and to make the best of the avaliable space.

'Tikit' Front Cover, Attempt 2, Version 2

I decided the black background was too harsh for my cover, so decided to fade it, and lighten it up slightly. I also added another sell line and tried to decide where would be best to place other ones.

'Tikit' Front Cover, Second Version

After looking at my first attempt of my Music Magazine Cover, I decided to make it a more conventional piece by changing key elements to make it more like a traditional magazine. My masthead, I thought, was too outrageous in terms of its placement and delivery, so i used the design to make a more regular masthead, using the original image as the letter 'I', as not to waste it. I changed the main image to one where more of the band is visable, to give a clearer understanding of the purpose of the image. I changed the background colour to something I could more easily adapt to and change throughout the editing process, and I played around with ideas for the presentation of the sell lines.