Evaluation

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

My media product I have created uses, develops and challenges forms and conventions of real media product. The conventions which I have used on my front cover include a bar code, date, issue number, price and masthead.

I put the date, issue number, and price around the bar code, I chose to arrange them this way because I found out after researching many different types of music magazines, this is a form of convention which real media products use. I have also used plugs and puffs on the front cover as they are too conventions.

I challenged some of the conventions of a contents page by having a features and regulars list, they also usually have a date and issue number which I have also added. To develop the conventions I used a number of small images and placed them so they almost slot in together.

The conventions which I have used in my double page spread are drop caps, a big and bold heading and a photograph which spreads across both pages.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

M y media product represents the particular social group, young adults well. this is because I have used bright font colours and a lively font type for the masthead, which both represents young adults as vibrant, fun and exciting.

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

The media institution which may distribute my media product could be Future publishing. I think that this kind of media institution would distribute my media product because they do not currently produce a indie/rock music magazine, or one similar. Distributing my media product could also put pressure on other media institutions who may already produce or distribute a similar product.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be aimed at young adults aged 16-21, both male and female. All though anyone who is interested in indie/rock type music would also be attracted towards my media product as I have used many conventions of the music genre.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The main part of my media product which will attract/address my audience is the photograph on the front cover. This is because the photograph is full size of the magazine so it is very noticeable. the photograph is also very vibrant which will interest my target audience especially as they are often full of energy too.

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

Whilst constructing my product I used two software's which were the most convenient for the editing and designing of my media product. The two software's I used are Adobe Photoshop and Microsoft publisher.

I designed most of my double page spread in Microsoft publisher. From doing this I have learned how to use different features of the software to create what I wanted to. I have learned the following: how to open a double page spread; creating drop caps, change their colour and fonts to keep a similar style; the

I designed both the full front cover and contents page on Adobe Photoshop. From doing this I learned how to use some of the features available, these are: filters, such as adding noise (dust and scratches) to the gold circle on the front cover; the crone tool, which I used to remove distracting objects in the background photograph; drop shadows, which I used on the contents page.

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

I feel I have learnt a lot in the progression from the preliminary task to the main task. One of the main conventions of music magazines which I have learned is to have a colour scheme on each page which consists of using a maximum of three colours. Having a colour scheme creates style and makes the page flow smoothly, especially when the colours work well together. I learned this through doing the preliminary task where I didn't use a colour scheme and ended up using up to six different colours which clashed with each other because they where all strong, bold colours.

During my research I found out that the producer can almost control what the audience first look at or reads on the front cover. This can be done by either having different sizes, colours or types of fonts. Having larger fonts with bright colours and an attractive font type will make the audience automatically look and read that section first.

Final Front cover, contents page and double page spread

Analysis of double page spread

I have chosen to use the photograph of the singer, rhythm guitarist and drummer as my main photograph because it shows their passion for music and the effort they put into making their band work to the maximum. I cut out the photograph on Photoshop using the polygonal lasso tool; I did this because this type of editing is a convention, as it is often used in many music magazines which look very effective as it adds more energy to the page.

I decided to use the same font for the bands name as I used for it on the front cover. I have done this to make it recognisable, as many bands/artists usually do, this shows their significance. At first I was going to keep the bands name colour black, but then I decided to change the ‘T’ and ‘S’ to red, this makes it stand ou

t more and adds colour to make the page look more attractable and appealing to the target audience.

The main story which I created explains what The Strands have recently done, what they are hoping to achieve and there is a bit of background information so the audience knows how they came together and started playing. At first I set the

font to large for the page so I made it smaller so I could fit on what I wanted such as the tour dates and a list of the band members. I have chosen to follow the co

nventions which most magazines and other media texts follow, to try to make my magazine look as effective as they do. I have done this by using a drop cap, which I have done in red to keep with the colour scheme. I have chosen red as one of the ma

in colours because it works well against the white background and/or next to the black text.

To advertise the band further I added on their tour dates so more people may chose to go to wa

tch them play live. I also added a list of band members and what part they play in the band, so people know who they are.

On the bottom of each page I have added the page numbers; these are both in different colour

s. The colours which I chose where so the reader can see them easily e.g. black against white and white against black.

Analysis of Front cover

The photograph which I have chose to use as the background of the front page cover is a medium/long shot of the bands drummer. I chose to do a medium/long shot because then the full length of the drummer would fit into the frame, along with the drums. When the audience looks at the drummer they automatically know what part he plays in the band. I decided to crop this photograph first before using it, this was so I could try and get rid of the other two members of the bands arms because they cause distractions from the main image. As I was cropping the image I realised that I wouldn’t be able to crop as much of the sides as what I originally planned to do because if I had, part of the drummer would have been cut of with it. To solve this I decided to crop a certain amount of then clone other the remaining parts of the arms so they can no longer be seen. I also used the clone tool else where, this was in the top left hand corner of the photograph where there was a small dark shadow which didn’t need to be there. I then changed the input tones by using the cures tool. After this I used the Gaussian blur tool to out focus the background of the photograph slightly, this makes the drummer and the drums the main focus point.

When I had finished editing the photograph to how I wanted it to look like, I transferred it to a new A4 sheet. I had to do this as I had cropped down the original photograph so it was no longer the size which it needed to be. I could only re size the photograph slightly because otherwise the parts of the top and bottom would be to long and get cut of. This meant that at the each side of the photograph (placed centrally of the page) there was a gap. I decided to colour the sides in black, I chose black because it worked well with the colours in the photograph and did not clash.

Before deciding where to place the bands name, I tried out different fonts and colours to see which ones looked more effective. The font and colour which I decided to do are DextorD and white. The font and colour both work well with the front cover. The colour of the font (white) stands out from the background which is based on mainly dark colours, this makes the bands name look very eye catching. The font works well because it is not plain and boring, which would not represent what the band is about. I decided to put the bands name in between the drummers arms and the drums. I put it in the place I did because there was nothing distracting in the photograph behind it. When I had wrote ‘The Strands’ I had the text box set out to horizontal, I then decided to rotate it slightly to see if it would look more effective. I thought it looked more effective when I had slightly rotated it because it almost matches up with the angle of the drum. Whilst experimenting rotating the text I found out that if I rotated it to much, it would no longer look as effective because it would make the text harder to read and concentrate on.

To get the bar code for my front cover I took a photograph of a magazine, then cut it out with the polygonal lasso tool. I then re sized it until it was the correct size to fit where I wanted it to go. After I arranged the bar code I used the type tool to add the price, date and issue number.


I chose to name the magazine 'Discord', I decided to use this name as it is catchy.

Origionally I thought a blue and yellow colour scheme would work well because they stand out from the dark background well, but I figured out that they would suit more of a dance magazine instead of a indie/rock magazine. I changed the colour scheme to yellow and dark purple.


I added a number of puffs on to the front cover, this is to show what main stories appear inside to get the interest of the target audience.

I have added a plug to the front cover which

is advertising a free CD when you buy a copy. This will also influence the audience to buy the magazine because they ar

e getting a freebie. I re-arranged the text a few times so I could see where it looked the most effective.

Analysis of Contents page

I decided to add the photographs to the contents page first because I could then arrange them to where I thought they looked best. I chose to group the photographs together at the bottom of the right hand side of the page so that down the left hand side I could have the page titles and numbers. On each photograph I cut of the top left hand side corner using the polygonal lasso tool, I did this so that the photographs wouldn’t look to rectangular.

I inverted the colours on the date/issue number and the features/regulars block. I did this because I wanted to maintain the colour scheme, yet I wanted to make it appear fairly uniform, thereby keeping to a specific colour scheme for the page. I originally selected grey and red because they contrast well with each other and stand out. Red is a bold colour and contrasts well with the paleness of the grey. On the features/regulars block, I lowered the opacity of the grey to ensure that it wasn’t too dark or too noticeable. This made sure that the red was prominent.

For the page title ‘contents’ I chose the font Ruach LET 68pt because the text would look ‘rough’ and has the connotations of being urban. And goes well with the images and iconography. Also I think that it compliments the style of the writing, which is featured in the photograph of the singer. In keeping with this I chose to add a shadow effect to the text. I did this to mimic the effect that the drop down screen, which is in the background of the photograph of the whole band, gives. The image on the screen almost looks like a shadow and I wanted to utilise this effect with the text.

I decided to alternate between the two colours red and black on the page titles and numbers. I did this so that they wasn’t to much of one colour standing out from the rest. I included another text box besides ‘the kooks’, this is to show that the news is exclusive. To keep in with the colour scheme, I chose to do it in red, then add a drop shadow so it stands out more from the other red text, as I want it to be more eye catching. I also added the page number in the bottom left hand corner of the page.

Magazine drafts

Photographs

Music Genre and Magazine names

The producer of the music magazine that I will be creating is Future. I have decided to go with Future publishing because they haven't yet produced a music magazine in the genre which I will be creating. Future already has a number of music magazines out there, these include:
Total Guitar Classic Rock
Guitar techniques Metal Hammer
Computer music
Computer music specials



Magazine names:
Bang
Discord
Uproar
Turbulence
Boundless

.

Hip Hop Connection (HHC) is the longest running monthly periodical devoted entirely to hip hop culture.

Under the editorship of Chris Hunt, the magazine published its first issue in 1988. The early issues were its biggest selling and saw Hunt bringing together a talented group of writers and photographers, including Malu Halasa and Normski, the future television presenter and celebrity, who was given his own section in the magazine to showcase his rap photography. Dave Pearce was also an early contributor to the magazine.

In April 2006 Hip Hop Connection published its two-hundredth consecutive edition, re-running many of the classic rap interviews from its 18 year history. It is now owned by Cambridge.

analysis

Kerrang is a weekly rock music magazine. Karrang was first published on the 6th June 1981, edited by Geoff Barton. During the 1980s and early 1990s the magazine put many thrash and glam metal acts on the cover, but later discarded them when grunge acts such as Nivana rose to the fame. Readers often criticised the magazine for repeating this process every time a new musical trend became popular.

Kerrang remains the market-leading music weekly with a devoted audience of rock fans driving sales of 60,289.

The title of the contents page has been set out in white capitals, parts of it is broken up and is scattered around the title. This has been done so it doesn't look complete, which looks effective. Red lines go across the top of the page and behind the title, theses lines are there so there isn't any blank spaces. These lines have also been added behind the sub-heading of 'This week', they have been added here because the font and colour is the same as the title, this keeps the theme running through the page.

There is an editors section which is based on a black background, in this section there is a photograph of the editor and some writing which he has added.



There are three photographs next to each other, these are the same size and each have the name and page number on the bottom of the image, because they appear inside the magazine.



The main photograph is of a singer out of a band, it is the main photograph as they will be a large story about them. The edges of the photograph fades away into the black background, this fading away effect makes it look part of the background.



There are sub-titles in the contents page, these separate the different subjects up, underneath each sub-title there is the page titles and numbers.


At the bottom of the page there is a plug which shows three magazines and along side there is writing to advertise there offer.



Along the side of the page in small writing there is a small section which says who took the photographs in the front page and on the contents page.

Analysis of Rock Sound

Rock Sound is a British monthly music magazine, the genre of music been alternative.

Rock Sound was launched in March 1999 by the french publisher Editors Freeway, it was then bought out in December 2004 by its director Patrick Napier.

Rock Sound has an ABC of 23,260. Its a completely independent magazine. The magazine is put together by music fans for music fans, the passion and attitude is reflected in the writing.

Rock Sound aims to bring new music to the masses and covers music from rock genres, giving many bands their first print media exposure.

The monthly magazine costs £3.60 and has a glossy front and back cover page so it is more likely to last longer.

The name of the magazine is Rock Sound. The font of the title is in bold, it is the full width of the front cover and is in large font. The colour of the font is white, this colour has been chosen because the background photograph has a lot of dark colours. The title has small rips and tears on the edges, this as been done to give it a slight rough look to go with the genre of music which the magazine is about.

The main photograph is off the band Funeral For A Friend, this image has been used as the full background of the front cover as they are the main feature of this issue. The photograph is at a medium close up to show all of the band members and there style of clothing. The background in this image has been blurred out, this is so that the audiences eye does not get distracted from the main subject. The person's head which is stood in front of every one else in the photograph goes over the name of the magazine. This shows that he could be the leader of the band and that the magazine is well known because you can't See some of the letters.

At the top of the front cover, above the title there is a small image which has been edited and shaped into a circular shape, and along side of this there is a puff, this shows the names of artists which will appear inside the magazine and it also says that they are posters inside.

Underneath the name of the magazine to the left, it says '+ FREE CD', this is in the same font as the title but it is smaller and its of the colour yellow. The difference in colour is to show that it isn't part of the title and its just there to show people the offer they will be getting, which is they by the magazine and get a free Cd.

Underneath the title of the magazine to the right, it says 'music with attitude' this has been added to make the audience more interested in reading more. The font is in capitals, white and based on a black background.

The name of the main band 'Funeral For A Friend' is in blue font and capitals. It has been done in blue so it makes the magazine look a bit more colourful and interesting, it also makes it stand out from the background more. Each letter then casts a black shadow this is to make it stand out even more. On the letters there are gaps and cracks wear it looks worn away. To the left of 'Funeral For A Friend' there is a white circle, on it it tells you what is inside.

Underneath the name of the band there is a quote, this has been done in a handwriting style font this gives more of an impression that the person is really saying what he said. The colour of this is in yellow.

In the middle of the front cover to the left there is a .... which says that you could win some tickets. The two main words have been highlighted in yellow, these are 'WIN!' and 'CARLIN' these two are the main words which will appeal to the audience because they will like the chance to win some thing and the second highlighted word is of what they could win.

To the right of the front cover there are two more photographs. These two photographs have been cut out of there original background and been put on top of the front cover background, a white glow has also been added around the edges of the images otherwise they wouldn't really stand out as there colours of clothing are similar.

Towards the bottom of the page at the right and left hand side there is some additional writing in blue and white, this is there to tell the audience what else is in the magazine.

At the very bottom on the right hand side of the front cover there is a bar code and above this it tells you the price of the magazine the issue, date and the website address.

At the top right hand side of the contents page it shows the name of the magazine, date and the issue number. The same type of font and colour has been used. The colour was chosen because it is similar to the top which the artist is wearing so that the colours .

Underneath it shows the main features which are in the magazine and there page number. They have chosen to do the page numbers in the red colour to keep the same colour running through the page, and the artists names are in black. Under each name and page number there is some smaller writing which explains what the story is going to be about. The main features list is on a transparent background, it has put on a transparent background to make the list stand out more, if it had been put on a solid colour background then it would cut out to much of the background image.

In the bottom right hand corner there is a quote from what slash said. The quote is in black font and based on a white background.

The double page spread consists of four photographs. The main photograph is the biggest one and shows all of the band members. The leader of the the band is at the front in the middle and is the most focused so when people open the page that is the first thing which they will see. On the right hand side of the double page spread there is another photograph of one of the band members which is in focus. In front of where both of the photographs join there is another photograph which is of the band leader which has been cut out of its background.

At the top left hand side there is a section of writing which tells the audience about the bands new album, the font is in white whilst the background is black.

The name of the band takes half of the left page up and it looks like it has been printed onto it. There is also a yellow shadow casting of each letter. Below the band name there is three words which are been used to advertise the band, these are 'Better Than Ever'. Under this it also tells you who the photographer and the writer is.

The story is on the right hand page and is on a white background. Across the middle of the story there is a quotation. This story also has a drop cap which is typical of a double page spread.

In the bottom corner of each page there is a number and the website address.