Evaluation 1 - In what ways does your magazine challenge/follow the conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

Magazine evaluation

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Evaluation 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

For this evaluation task it was advised we took a picture of our artist (preferably the front cover image) and compared them to a similar artist and discuss the similarities and differences of the artists shown. I decided that I wished my artist was to be similar to ones featured within the indie genre; Julian Casablancas (lead singer in The Strokes), Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, and Alex Kapranos from Franz Ferdinand. I felt that I wanted my artist to produce music similar to those produced by the bands featured above.

Of the listed band members above, I don't feel that I based my artist on one particular artist. This is because I felt that to make my article (on the double page spread) I felt that I had to have a story informing the reader as to how my artist - Jerry Cooper, came from a alcoholic college drop out, to a number one selling artist. Contrasting to my featured artists above who all have lived fairly privileged lives and ave good qualifications, apart from Alex Turner who dropped out to pursue a career in music.

However the main comparisons I was looking for were those featured in the clothing and in their style of performance. Some similarities between some of my artists is that they all have a similar hair length. The most similar is Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand. This hair style of longer hair seems familiar with many artists, especially those within the Indie genre. I feel that this is because it is an extension of their personality, and shows that they care about their looks and appearances in public. This is reflected in the clothing they wear. This is because all of these artists wear similar clothing as you can see from the picture above, Casablancas and Turner are wearing similar clothing. This is something I originally looked at - my artist to wear a jacket for the main image. However, I felt that with my model (Jerry Copper) sitting on top of an already dark speaker, it would make the overall feel of the image very dark. So I insisted on a light t-shirt to help emphasise the contrast, not only between the colours, but also the contrast representing the differing fortunes of his life to date. Overall the main style of clothing they are wearing are simple indie clothing, jacket and jeans. Which enables the audience to connect with them, because many members of the public will have similar clothing to these musicians. As you can see from the photo above, you see Kapranos wearing sunglasses. Yes this is due to the photo being taken at an outdoor concert, however Kapranos, is known to wearing sunglasses at one or two indoor concerts in arenas etc. The reason why I feel this is, is because I feel that he wants the sense of arrogance to come across. This would work in that he feels he doesn't feel the need to reveal himself and make contact with the audience.

How this relates to my musician is that I wanted to try and portray that arrogance both through his appearance, and his interview on my double page spread. As you can see from all of my photos, my musician Jerry Cooper is not looking towards the camera, replicating the Kapranos feel where he doesn't make direct eye contact. This gives my musician the arrogance feel about him which I wanted to try and create. This is enhanced by the way he is sitting on my front cover photo. He is seated on top of a speaker playing the guitar. This pose reflects a casual look of Jerry Cooper, again giving the sense that he is 'chilled' out and doesn't really care too much - enhancing that arrogance feel. Finally, as I said previously, I wanted Jerry's arrogance to come across in the interview on my double page spread. This is becuase he knows during his up-bringing, he was a arrogant, tearaway who didnt care about life, and his future. However now he has got his life back on track but not lost his arrogance.

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

Evaluation Activity 3

Evaluation 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

As you can see from the presentation above, you can see that my magazine is aimed at people around my age. The specific target range I was looking for was 16-25. You can also see from the video that my magazine will be loosely based around current magazines like Q & NME. This is because the music featured within these will be similar to that featured in mine, which is another feature you can recognise from the short video.
However, one thing that kept occurring during the process of creating my magazine was, 'what is my Unique Selling Point, why would the public want to buy my magazine over the other similar ones?'. This is one feature I (regrettably) didn't seem to think about too much during the process, I wanted to focus on the style of my magazine rather than what would separate it from its competitors. However, one thing which I emphasised during the project was that I wanted a simplistic version of NME, but not as serious as Q. This is something I feel I have achieved well, enhanced by the simplistic colour scheme, and one image on the front cover (compared to NME who have 'busy' front covers). This is one feature which I feel help distinuish between the magazines. In addition to this I noticed during my research that many magazines also include various offers, in an attempt to entice the audience into buying that particular magazine, persudaing them to avoid other competitors. This is something I took onboard, and I included a special offer on my front page. It can be seen in a speical (red - matching the masthead) ribbon in thr bottom right corner of the cover, where it states that the magazine are given arway 50 free tickets for the V festival. This is something that I feel will help give my magazine the 'edge' over any other competitors in the market. This is because I feel that it is something that my target audience would be interested in, due to many music fan teenagers wanting to attend many festivals and concerts with their friends.  

Evaluation 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Five on Prezi

Evaluation 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product

I used an animoto for the evaluation stage of my coursework. I used it for evaluating who I thought the audience would be for my magazine. I used it because I felt that my presentation would be more images based, and felt this would be the most appropriate way of doing this. I also included my own uploaded music for my presentation. I had never previously used animoto before this project, so anything I used on the animoto website was something new which I didn't know how to use previously. I was interested in seeing how a production which only allowed you to either have around 25 words, or a image on each slide would come together. However upon reviewing the end result I feel that it works quite well. It is enhanced by the selection of an indie track (The Vaccines - Wreckin' Bar), without this I feel that the presentation would be fairly boring.

I used blogger throughout the entire duration of my coursework project. I had never kept a Blog before, but felt that using Blogger for my coursework was easy because all my work was in one place, and that I could log on and upload work at anytime. Without the use of a blog, to keep up to date with my coursework would have been a difficult task. The various features which I found useful for my coursework were that you could upload images to enhance you blog post. Another feature were that you could enter an embed code into the HTML section which allowed you to embed videos off of YouTube etc. The one other feature which I found useful was the label feature, which allowed you to write a name, categorising the post you have just created, and these will be grouped in a list at the side of your blog page. This was useful as it enabled quick and easy navigation between various different posts.

This is the camera is used to take the photos for my magazine. I took over 200 photos of my model in front of a projector screen (so it would be easier to cut out in Photoshop). I transferred the photos from my camera to my computer via a 4GB SD memory card. I used various features on my camera such as the the stabilizer, balance adjuster, flash and sensitivity in order to create the best photo for my magazine. As the digital camera was mine, I already knew about many of the features & settings incorporated into the camera. Therefore I didn't learn much about the technical side of the camera, however I did learn more about different techniques and different ways of taking a picture to get the best shot. For example, moving the light to get the right effect, and changing the position of the tripod to find the best angle for the camera shot.

This is the computer I used to create the majority of my coursework on. It is a Packard Bell Touchscreen OneTwo. I used the various programs (listed below) in a bid to help achieve the best for my magazine. Again, the same situation occurs with this piece of technology, because I already knew about its many features, and what it was capable of doing, and how it could help me with my work. Although, if I did not have a computer at home, to complete the coursework would have proved a very difficult task, as it would of meant I would have had to stay behind after school most nights to get the work completed.

 

I used the Google search engine for many aspects of my magazine's creation. However the one part I used it the most for was the research. This is because I wanted to search for existing magazines and designs to help inspire me for my magazine. This enabled me to create various different designs using models from existing magazines, and in doing so, deciding upon the best style which I felt best suited the market I was aiming my magazine at. 

This was the magazine I used to transfer the coursework between school and my home computer. I also had this backed up on my computer incase I lost it. Using the memory stick enabled me to easily transfer the large files, usually the photoshop files  between mine and the school computers, this is because some files were up to 40MB (equivalent to around 12 music files). The reason why the files were so large was due to the fact there was so many layers incorporated into my designs, and many large images.

I rarely used the Paint program for my coursework. However on the odd occasion I quickly needed to save an image into a JPEG file it soon came in handy. Overall this program did not make an impact on my coursework because it was too simple a program to be able to create something of a decent standard. However, as I previously stated it was a handy tool to quickly enable me to convert an image into a JPEG file which are more compatible with various programs. 

One of the first parts of my research was conducted using Powerpoint. I used the program for collating information and designs from existing magazines to upload it onto my blog via Slideshare. I also used Powerpoint for part of my evaluation. IF this program did not exist, I still would have been able to complete my coursework, as I rarely used powerpoint presentations for key parts of the coursework. However on the odd occasion I did create one it proved very useful. For example annotating the magazines for an analysis task at the very beginning of the course. 

I only used the online Prezi software once, and this was for part of my evaluation. Prezi allows you to create simply a large mind map which you can embed onto your blog. This is another technology which I have never come across before, however I felt it proved very useful. It allowed me to easily create a mind map online, which saved me using paper and trying to find a scanner large enough enabling me to upload a file of a mind map. So this proved a successful way of doing this. Prezi also allows you to create a 'path' which will guide any readers of your mind map around in the correct direction, or the direction which you want them to read it. 

Photoshop Elements 7.0 came preloaded on my computer, this came in handy because I conducted a large part of my coursework using this program. I used it to come up with various designs for my magazine, and eventually my final design. As I had no previous experience with using photoshop, I felt that the preliminary task at the beginning of the course proved very useful, as it enabled me to get a basic grasp as to the how it worked and gave me an idea of the various features available within it. Some of these features which I found useful were; Magnetic Lasso Tool - Enabled me to cut out an object or person, came in useful when I was cutting out the image of my model. Magic Wand Tool - A tool which automatically selected an area, came in useful when I wanted to delete an area of an image/background. Type Tool - Obviously came in useful when I wanted to type text onto any of my magazine pages. Image adjustment tools - These came in useful when I wanted to change a photo to enhance the effect I wanted it to create. I also made use of the Spot Healing Tool, which enabled me to remove any spots or moles from my model. 

I used this online document viewer one a couple of occasions. It allows you to upload you saved Word document in order to allow you to embed it onto your blog. I used this for uploading my magazine article, a document containing a sample of the photos I took during my photoshoot, and for part of my evaluation. There wasn't many features to get to grip with, with this package. It was simply a tool which we used which allowed us to upload our documents to enable us to get an embed code for our blog. In addition, if Scribd was non existent, we still could of got by, by simply using blog posts.

Slideshare was used during the creation of my magazine whenever I created a Powerpoint which needed to be uploaded. This was because this was the only way of finding an embedding code to enable me to store the Powerpoint on my blog. Again, if this website was not available we wouldn't have been able to use any powerpoint presentations which we had created. This would of proved a task when we were annotating existing magazines where powerpoint makes it easy to incorporate text and pictures in one place. 

Microsoft was rarely used during the course. The odd occasion it was used was for my magazine article, a document containing a sample of the photos I took during my photoshoot, and for section three of my evaluation. As I previously stated, if Microsoft Word was non existent then we would have just have to of used blog posts, which can prove difficult when trying to incorporate both pictures and text. Again, I didn't learn anything new about Microsoft Word as it is a program which I am constantly using for various pieces of work. 

Evaluation 7 - What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary to full product?

There are two sets of magazines above, the very top - my coursework magazine, the nearest was the one I created for my preliminary task. Our preliminary task took place at the very beginning of the course, and we were instructed to create a school magazine. I feel that looking back now, I have learnt so much over the last 7 months, not only about the different computer skills for the different programs such as Photoshop, but I feel I have developed a greater understanding for the conventions surrounding what to do, and what not to do with the creation of a media magazine. For example, I have learnt about the rules where the masthead, and cover image take up about 1/3 of the page each. Although this is something I have challenged with my magazine, where my main cover image takes up the majority of the front cover, whereas the masthead only uses about a quarter of the space available on the front cover.  

Another convention I have looked at is the three colour rule, where you should chose from a choice of 10 sets of colours in which are three matching colours which go well together and look good on a magazine. This is something I have taken onboard with my final magazine. This is because as you can tell by looking at the colour palette (posted numerous times throughout my blog) you can see that the colours I used for my preliminary do not go together, white, grey & blue. However, I seemed to carry the grey theme over to my final magazine, however I feel this time I have the right mix of colours, black, grey and the red (taken from the colour of the guitar). This is because throughout the creation of my mocks, I wanted to go with a black and white theme, and didn't want to feature any colour. However upon completion of some mock ups, I realised that my magazine was lacking in vibrancy and inspiration, it seemed boring. So upon consultation with my teacher we decided that I was to re-instate my colour picture of my model, and add some colour to headings etc.

Another feature which I have took onboard is the need for consistency and continuity throughout my magazine. I feel that looking back at my preliminary this is something I didn't do, due to the different fonts used on bother pages - especially for the heading. However, looking at my coursework result you can see that I have used the same fonts throughout, and have included the same colour schemes. In addition to this I have also included the logo in the same place on each page. This all helps the magazine flow together, and doesn't look disjointed.

Below is a powerpoint presentation emphasising what I have learnt about conventions since my preliminary has affected my final magazine.

Magazine evaluation task 7

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Logo

Following advice from my feedback, it was decided that I was to create a logo for my magazine. This is so I could keep the brand name of the magazine continuing throughout every page by having a logo in the corner. Whilst making the improvements  to my magazine, I set about creating a logo. I wanted something which was obviously in-keeping with the genre of my magazine, and something which was simple and not too complex to dominate the page. Below is my final logo. It is simply a guitar plectrum, featured amongst 6 lines to represent guitar strings. I also included part of my magazine name into it, this is to enhance the logos effect.

Magazine Questionnaire

1. Age:
2. Favourite music genre:
3. Current favourite Music magazine
4. Would the front cover attract your attention on a shop shelf, if not why?
5. Does the front cover, e.g. photo, colour scheme etc, match the genre of music featured in the magazine?
6. Does the contents page give enough information as to what other features are included?
7. Are all pictures relevant for the type of magazine & musician?
8. Is the article on the double page spread interesting, and gives a good overview of the artists life?

Feedback on Draft

Research & Planning:

• I must analyse and evaluate how each stage of my research will help me decide on my final choices
• I must use a variety of presentational device
• I need to find more examples of inspiration from existing magazines, to show me other techniques and conventions - especially for my double page spread.

Front Cover:

• Good iconography
• Need to help communicate the genre & audience better.
• Fonts a bit simplistic

Contenets:

• Try to create a logo instead of 'Amp'
• Change to different pictures in the Polaroid effect
• Change the fonts of headings

Double Page Spread:

• Need to reference music/band in first paragraph
• shorten the length of paragraphs
• Change the layout as it is too simplistic