EVALUATION Q7: Looking back at the preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt from it through the progression from it to a full product?

My preliminary task was to create a magazine front cover and a contents page. I had to work from scratch, picking out a specific model, taking my own photographs using an EOS 400D canon camera and editing my images with a photo editing software which I envision how I wanted it to look it. I found that task quite simple because I wanted the models to show their personalities and look natural. I have used Adobe Photoshop before; therefore I concentrated on getting the best out of my skills. However what I found difficult was setting up the lighting and camera as I was unfamiliar with it. I had to set up the soft box correctly, placing it to get the best lighting effect on how I desire it to be and getting the camera to focus on that subject which didn’t turn out so too bad with a couple of practice shots which the photographs came out decent.

For the main task, I learnt how to set up soft boxes and the triggers around it. I had to be very careful not to touch the bulb as a hazard of working with the soft boxes to avoid injury from electric shock from my preliminary task. I have also learnt the effects soft boxes create which is a diffused light by ‘bouncing’ light off a second surface to diffuse the light which gets rid of the harsh shadows and creates a smooth effect when the light is on the subject. This made it look natural and simple to blend in with my dark background.

During the process I tried to stick to deadlines and get things done as quickly as possible as I realise my organisation of time is limited. I had to work around my other subjects taking it into consideration and work quickly and effectively as I could. The equipment’s and props were already available for me which saved a lot of time. For my model, it was simple as I wanted a young black female with personality in a type of urban street clothing style which was typical for females. I took many photographs of different angles and poses which I could choose the best ones later on.

As I already know how to use Adobe Photoshop CS3 I focused on bringing out the best of my skills. For my main image, I used brightness and contrast adjustments to emphasis the model, making her stand out more. Secondly I used the Lasso tool to cut around her figure and remove the background from her to place her on my dark navy background which I made through Photoshop. It had a lighter glow in the middle in relations to her being a ‘new upcoming artist’ so I wanted to show that she was the star of that months edition of the magazine. I also used ‘smart blur’ to make my models face look flawless and smoother, almost an airbrush effect.

For my magazine, when creating it I used several similar fonts, all sans-serif which is the font without the flicks at the ends apart from the name ‘JOY-ANN’. By doing so, it gives the magazine a sense of a modern feeling. The reason why ‘JOY-ANN’ is in serif (font with the flicks in the ends) instead of sans-serif is because she is a female on the front cover and so I wanted to have a feminine touch to it. For the masthead, I used a large sans-serif font and made it big and bold in the colour white. I also put a shadow inside of the font to make it stand out more as this is important for the audience to recognise and remember the brand. Throughout the magazine I kept the font on different varieties of sans-serif fonts unless it’s to do with the upcoming female artist ‘Joy-Ann’ that I would switch it up to a serif font to have that feminine feel.

Overall, the strength of my magazine is that people liked the look of it and feel as though I have achieved the RnB/Hip-Hop genre for the British audience. I was happy that I was able to complete my products in time, the magazine cover, contents page and double page spread.

The weakness of my product is that I believe I should have made the background more colourful instead of one dark, bold colour to bring more personality to it. Another weakness of it is that I could have added trendier, youthful fonts as it is aimed more to teenagers because the sans-serif font could also be seen as boring.  If I was to do this again I would make sure I add more range of colours and more varieties of fonts that could also be modern yet trendy.

Comparing my preliminary college magazine task and music magazine final product I feel like I have learned from it and have improved. During the making of my college magazine task I imagined what a college magazine would look like and created it out of my out creativity and design abilities. Whereas for my main task I searched in depth on the conventions of magazine, layout and the music genre looking into different magazines such as VIBE as an inspiration. Since creating my preliminary task, I realised I had to work quick therefore my timing improved. My Photoshop skills and setting up the camera equipment also improved and I developed an understanding of the camera and how to focus.  

EVALUATION Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

As part of constructing this product, technology played a huge part during the process. As an individual making this product I had the chance to explore many different technologies. One of the first many technologies I used was the internet. I was told to make an online account on a blog publishing service called blogger.com where I would be able to produce my work and ideas on it. I have never used a blogging service before but I found that the concept was easily understood and simple to work with. Blogger is also useful for uploading images easily from my computer showing different aspects of my work and ideas which is presented through the blog. I was also able to copy and paste (Ctrl V+P) my typed up work from Microsoft word which was helpful and saved me time. Moreover, as I learnt that I was able to put it on private so I didn’t need to worry about other students copying my work which benefitted me. Although it was straightforward, there were a couple of problems I stumbled by. One problem was that I found that the inconsistency operation when trying to rearrange images amongst the texts difficult which resulted in the blog formatting itself differently when previewing the blog than when it was laid out together. Overall I was able to overcome this problem by spending more time with my blog, although it may not look top notch I was still about to record my ideas and work.

I used search engines such as Google and Wikipedia as part of my research. I used Google as my search engine of choice to search images of magazines relating to my choice of genre which was RnB/Hip-Hop. I found magazine front covers such as XXL to write a textual analysis of it, but also used the web search to go to the magazine company’s direct site for example www.xxlmag.com to learn more about the magazine in depth. I also had to research on a magazine publishing company to write a case study about which Wikipedia was helpful in proving detailed information about the publishing company and other useful researches.

I used Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel which are software’s on the computer to help present my work. Microsoft word is a standard word processor which I used to type up my work and as well as creating my audience research questionnaire. I made use the of the spell check ability to correct my grammar to its best it could be. I used Microsoft Excel 2007, which is a spread sheet application that is capable of creating customised graphs which is displayed from my audience research results where I used it to represent the results instead of typing it out. I did not learn anything from this as I have already experienced how to use these applications.

For taking photographs of my model, I used a Canon EOS 400D 10.1 megapixel camera. I have previously used the camera for my preliminary task but I also do photography a level which was a bonus for me. Although I haven’t used the exact same camera I had an idea of how it works, I was still learning about how the camera works throughout the process of constructing this product. I learnt that there was a guide of red dots that comes up to guide you and show the correct orientation when taking a picture which the eye had to be levelled with the dots. The photograph is usually taken portrait as the magazine would be would also be portrait, fitting in as much of the subject as possible. I figured how I wanted to frame my subject and what type of shot I was going to use which I decided to take of medium shots because I wanted the photo to take up the unnecessary background for the magazine front cover. I learnt about different angles and what they could represent, I shot the model in mainly eye level so the audience would be able to relate to her. In some of my pictures I saw that it was blurry and to avoid it I learnt that the camera button should be held down halfway to get it in focus before pressing it down fully to capture the picture.

 Furthermore I used Adobe Photoshop CS3 to edit my magazine and lay out everything in place. Adobe Photoshop is an advance graphics editing software which I used to edit my photographs and lay out everything on my magazine into place. Firstly, I used it mainly to edit my photographs which I already knew how to work with on Photoshop therefore with that in mind; I concentrated on getting the best out of my skills. For my main image which was off a young teenage female, I used brightness and contrast to adjust the lighting and to make her stand out more as she is featured as the main star for the magazine. Secondly, I used the Lasso tool to cut around her to place her in my own customised background which was dark on the outside with a hint of glow in the middle. I then used smart blur to make my models face clearer and smoother but also have that ‘airbrushed’ look. I did the same for my other images of the model on my double page spread. Throughout this process, I did not learn anything new. Although I did not gain further knowledge on this I did experiment, manipulating and playing around with the photographs and effects that could be achieved.

A Soft box is a type of photographic lighting device which eliminates harsh shadows by diffusing the artificial light source so that it hits the subject softly creating a smooth effect. By having the light come from one side, it gives the image a deeper effect that I wanted to show, representing the star have two sides to her. The soft box made my photographs every natural even when I edited it with brightness and contrast it wasn’t so harsh. I learnt how to set the soft box up, working out the triggers and its use. I was warned about the hazards of working with soft-boxes from my preliminary task that it needs great amount of attention to avoid injury from electric shock. The soft box can be placed at any angle to stimulate the required light source. I also learnt how to position my models correctly between the background, soft box and camera so that I was able to focus the model with the camera.

EVALUATION Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Volume magazine attracts audience by having a young female teenager in front of the cover, with a strong posture. She’s a 17 year old female, a similar age to the audience therefore they would be able to relate to her. As I had my audience in mind I customised her in clothes that are not over the top and affordable which also is easy to replicate. She is wearing a basic leather jacket and khaki sting vest which is simple yet sophisticated but it is what her body posture and attitude in the main image that shows who she is. As the teenagers are still young adults I did not want them to feel pressurised on how female teens should look like therefore I attracted the audience by having the female model wearing laid-back clothing and be herself. She is well groomed, with neat hair and natural makeup which would appeal to males as it shows that she retains this ‘natural, real woman’ look but also relating to females as they are able to relate to her.

The masthead and cover lines use simple and several san-serif fonts. This shows that the magazine is modern and contemporary as seen through my audience research; the audience are more into the modern society and into celebrities such as Drake and Rihanna. I used a serif font on only her name ‘JOYANN’ because it adds a touch of feminine to the magazine as it mainly consist of dark navy colours as the background and san-serif fonts which could be seen more masculine. I also emphasized female rappers as becoming more powerful as one of the main cover lines reading “Are females the new iconic rappers?” This brings in ‘girl power’ as typically men are mostly seen as the more empowering rappers in the music industry therefore this breaks that stereotype which will catch the audience attention. I also included the rapper Drake coming to London to the o2, I chose the o2 because it is widely known and local for most people but also easy to get to the venue by transport. 

The colour scheme of my magazine consists of mostly blues, navy and grey which I added a touch of yellow to brighten up the scene. It also compliments the image that is featured on the main cover, making it all blend together. I added a hint of yellow because it contrasts with the navy and greys making it stand out more. The colours are bold with contrasting colours such as white as the masthead and cover lines against the dark background. The magazine would be able to be seen from afar because of its contrasting elements and colour theme which will attract the reader’s attention.

The contents page has a more mature side to it with the colours toned down a little to show a serious side to the magazine that it is not all fun and games but could also be business related. This will attract the older audience if they are looking into the magazine and is wanting to find something new in musical or maybe upcoming concerts and gigs they could attend. 

The double page spread which is centralized on the ‘upcoming artist’ has a more feminine feel to it. The colours have switched up a little, using a hot pink and white for the font in contrast with the black background. I chose to use hot pink because it gives a feminine touch to it, showing independence and power which may attract male attention as it is what they look for in a female and is different from what they see on a daily basis in magazines. 

I included a puff for my magazine front cover which has a ‘WIN!’ as the buzzword to catch the readers’ eye as my audience research shows that they’d prefer and favour magazines that give out freebies/give-aways. Therefore made a competition through the puff and emphasizing the word ‘WIN!’ to make them feel like it’s more of a statement than a competition and that they’ve already won the possession of the competition, this also persuades them to purchase the magazine for the chance of winning the valuable price. 

The price of my magazine could also be seen as ‘cheap and cheerful’ as I have decided that the price would be £1.99. This is seen through my audience research as majority voted that they would buy a magazine regularly that costs £1-2 as it is affordable because they are still students so therefore they don’t have a lot of money. This will attract the audience as one of the first things they look at is the price range and whether they would buy it because it is affordable. 

EVALUATION Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

‘Volume’ is targeting the British audience because there are many mainstream rap/grime artists and because my magazine promotes up coming artists and events for the British community. I decided to focus on audience around teenagers and young adults from 16 to 25 years old because the magazine has an urban edge to it that teenagers can relate to and information including concerts around the UK that the adults can look to. The main genre is RnB and hip-hop which is open to a wide range of audience therefore the magazine ethically tries to target all kinds of races such as black, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic and more as London is a multicultural city for that reason, most people would be able to relate to each over. Generally the audience would be interested into music genre such as Hip-hop, RnB, Pop and Soul.

I decided to mainly target audience aged 16-25 because the younger viewers would be able to read the magazines for concerts and interviews whilst it would be suitable for the older audience would want to look at it in search of technical information, upcoming rappers and business related to music. Volume magazine targets the following social class and the following ages in the proportions:

16-24: 40%

25-34: 30%

35-44:20%

45+    :10%

The magazine aims at mostly students who are in education and have a deep passion for music in the hip-hop/RnB industry and even making music themselves.  They would also be interested in the latest technology gadgets such as iPods, headphones (such as BEATS by dre and Skullcandy) and are usually using a smart phone such as an iPhone or Blackberry. The teenagers fashion sense is usually wearing branded items such as Nike, Adidas and vans with a mixture of jumpers, shirts and chinos. They would also be into concerts at the o2 indigo and o2 arena also into gigs at parties or clubs. Moreover, in general they would be into watching tv, browsing through the internet and participating in sites such as Facebook and twitter and playing game consoles.  

EVALUATION Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

It would be beneficial for Conde Nast publishing company (http://www.condenast.co.uk/) to publish my magazine as Conde Nast has a tendency to publish stylish magazines which mine is.

 

For Conde Nast to publish my music magazine would be opening a new audience as they have not published any kind of music magazine yet therefore it would be advantageous for my magazine. Conde Nast has an average total circulation of 13 million issues a month and an estimated 5 times readership larger than that therefore my magazine would be apart of a new market of R&B audience. Although my magazine is completely different to the lifestyle magazines Conde Nast publishes it will still target the young audience that reads their magazines such as Glamour and Vogue and are interested in R&B’s hip-hop style. 

It would be financially beneficial for Conde Nast to publish my magazine as they are opening a new market for themselves and there would not be any competition within this publisher’s titles. My magazine is directed at R&B audience and within it are style icons that are fashionable and take their image serious as well as their music.

The R&B/Hip-hop genre is very popular amongst students and teens therefore this would be beneficial for Conde Nast as advertisers may want to advertise their fashion products or clothes and also wanting to introduce their new R&B singers which would be even more advantageous to the magazine and Conde Nast. 

 

I would distribute my magazines in stores such as Whsmith, newsagents, stations etc. because the audience my magazine is aimed at are young adults therefore should be distributed in high street/ low cut prices.  My magazine has a lot of interviews and life stories also promoting their new singles of the R&B stars which young students wants to get to know about and we tend to like gossip and new music that’s about to be released. Students wouldn’t want to go too far just to purchase a magazine so by distributing the magazine around the corner shops and area would likely get them to purchase the magazine.

EVALUATION Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I designed my magazine with a teenage age range of 16-19 in mind for both females and males. As you can see from my audience research that I handed out to people from the college the most interest in genre of music is seen through my research is R&B/Hip Hop. Therefore I did a magazine research through the internet and browsed through different R&B/Hip Hop magazines and took note of what similarities and differences they contained from other type of magazines. I decided to feature a female with a strong, confident personality to represent the female artists. I represented her in the way that the audience will be able to identity what the magazine is about by having her being portrayed stereotypically by that genre.

To identity what type of magazine and who it’s aimed can be seen through the main image costume, body posture and props. R&B/Hip hop artist take in lots of consideration of their image and style. For the artist costume, as it is aimed for teenagers I wanted her to look youthful and trendy. By achieving this look and to represent my particular social group I dressed the artist in an urban, street style of clothing. Also as she is a young, arising star it’s more likely that she would know what sense of style or clothing she has adapted to yet as she still has to grow in the industry.

The artist in the foreground which is a female is dressed in a typical leather hoody jacket with a khaki string vest underneath, an urban type of clothing for females. The model is black as this is a big stereotype in representation of the rap genre. I did not want to overdo it as I wanted it to be as natural and relatable as possible. A leather hoodie is often associated with UK street culture and youth gangs yet also representing teenagers. It could also represent the underground street rappers in the UK as they are usually from an underprivileged area therefore there would not be much bling or flashy clothing. Her hair is styled in a straight sleek bob (long at the front and short at the back) with a side swept fringe to add a bit of edge to her facial structure. Her posture is strong yet showing personality as a young teenager with her both her arms holding her jacket to show that she’s ready. Although this is not the usual convention of rap/hip hop music magazines as typically female rappers consists of wearing jewellery’s and sexually provocative clothing as seen from the likes of Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj and Keri Hilson. 

EVALUATION Q1: 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge and conventions of real media products?

At the start of the coursework I analysed a well known music magazine called’ XXL’, as I was planning to do a R&B/Hip hop magazine it was important to analyse a similar genre magazine to identify what it is that makes the magazine that type of genre. I explored the conventions of a music magazine and how they were typically presented. In my analysis I pointed out the denotations and connotations of the cover and what they could represent. In my magazine cover I have used many similar conventions to attract my audience so it could be identified as a typical music magazine.

For my main image I featured an image of a young girl as an out-breaking R&B/Hip Hop artist posing with attitude and confidence. The image is a medium close-up in the central of a black background to create a sense of her being the main person that the audience should concentrate on and take more notice of. By placing her in a dark background it signifies that other artist should be aware of them such as the XXL magazine I analysed of Eminem where he is also placed in a dark background in a spotlight. This is a common convention because magazines such as XXL and Vibe centralize the artist in their magazine and to also promote them because they bring something new to the scene. As a competitive genre you want to show the artist on the front cover off, therefore this is a typical convention I have used in my music magazine.

I have used a large, bold masthead in the top middle of my front cover which takes up from the left to the right. By placing the masthead the way I did makes it visible to attract the audience by being the lead to the magazine. I could say I challenged this convention because a common convention for masthead would be on the top left side of the front cover. However my magazine could still be recognise from the boldness by the audience which reflects the personality my magazine obtain. My masthead is simple in capital block, sans-serif letters and in pure white that is similar to the vibe magazine masthead which has that powerful sense to it not being too overpowering.

Furthermore I have used cover lines around the main image on the front cover as a typical convention in magazines. My cover lines consist of different sizes, fonts and colours to represent the different subjects and articles the audience could expect from the magazine. I didn’t want the cover-lines to empower the image therefore they placed around the image. Cover lines are common in all types and different magazines to promote and show what it consists of.


I have also used a puff on the top right of my front cover in a bright colour with a big ‘WIN!’ so it can draw the audiences attention to the competition or prize which they may be interested in participating. Puffs are a common convention in magazines as it attracts the reader to purchase the magazine more and the thought of winning a lavishing prize they can’t turn away. This may make the audience feel as if the opportunity comes once in a while therefore they would want to buy the magazine quickly.

My barcode is placed on the bottom right in the front page which is conventional in real magazines. I have also put the website to my magazine on the side of it which is optional as I would like to have more interactions with the audience of my magazine. This will make the audience feel a part of a social group.

In my contents page I have followed the conventions by writing out the contents vertically, I did this because it is simple and easy to find and read what you’re looking for. I did not want anything too complicated as this was only the contents page where the audience will come to look at to search for the page they are interested in. I included all the contents number and cover-lines from the front page because it could have been something from the front page that caught their attention. I also tried to colour co-ordinate it with the front page so it looks like it belongs in the magazine, I used shades of blue, yellow, grey and black. Blue and yellow stands out from grey and black therefore I wanted it to have that vibrant, bold effect to reflect what my magazine is about.

For my double page spread I used 1/3 of the page for the article and 2/3 for the image. For the main image of the double page spread I used two image of my ‘upcoming artist’ seen on the front cover in a sassy, confident pose and on the right on the spread I did a little interview with her. I could say that most parts of my magazine follows many of the convention of real magazines because I want it to look like a music magazine and to be able to sell and market it and therefore the appearance of the magazine is something we should take extra consideration on as it reflects on what it is about.