AMYBULLEN

In class, we had a session where we all went around and gave feedback on each other's work. These are some of the responses :

“ I think that the house style is constructed very well, you can tell

that the front cover, DPS and contents are all part of the same

magazine. The Front cover fits all the conventions of a magazine, although, in my opinion the main image looks a little squashed. The pull quote reflects the picture, they both look like they fit the rock genre. I like the black, white

and red house style”

“Your magazine is awesome, i love the house style, its so rock n roll. The text and images integrate perfectly, there's next to no improvement for

your magazine. the photo is so punk rock, she looks like a true 90s rocker, it ties in with your mag really well. The

only improvement id say is to keep your fonts the same style, as they

alter a bit in some areas, apart from that an excellent job”

“I really like the use of colourings and the fonts used. I think it is

good you have broken conventions with using lots of different fonts. i

think i would had used a few different fonts but i find this maybe a bit too much. I really like the red

white and black simpleness”

“I like front cover and how the text colour matches the colour of her

top and the fact its the only colour on the page.

An improvment i feel you could make even though i know is

simplistic i feel you could have

used more images”

“I love everything on your magazine, the colours work really well together and the mast-head is really good, The contents page is

excellent and your article is easy to read thanks to the font. Nothing to

improve”

Masthead

Main Image

Dateline

Cover Lines

Barcode & Price

Pull Quote

Lead Article

Pictorial

Textual

Page Numbers

Drop Cap

Pull Quote Lead Image

Columns

Copy

Masthead

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

My magazine is conventional in the sense that it uses similar colours and images to other music magazines, specifically rock. The colours black, red and white are traditionally used in magazines such as NME and Kerrang, which were the inspirations for my magazine.

My front cover is structured like a typical music magazine. For example I have placed the masthead in the top left hand corner with the dateline just below, the barcode and price are placed in the bottom right hand corner, there is a main image and cover lines that fill up the page.

I have chosen to design my front cover like this so that people can notice straight away that it is a magazine.

My double page spread also follows the traditional conventions of a magazine. There is a drop cap to start the article, the main image is on the right and the article on the left. My DPS follows the 3 column rule and has a pull quote situated bang in the middle of the article to draw attention. My image is also connected to part of the article.

My contents page is very simple, it mainly consist of text. I have chosen to design the page like this so that it is easy to navigate around and doesn’t take too much away from the main features of my magazine.

For my photography, I have dressed my model up in simple clothing, but made sure it represents the genre of music, which is pop rock. I think that the photography has played a big part in being able to recognise what type of music my magazine appeals for. In my DPS I have linked the image to a line in the article, just so it shows that I have thought about the article and photography combined and that I haven't just taken a random image and put it in. For the front cover, I have chosen a ‘moody’ image, simply because most rock artists are stereotyped as being moody and emotional, so I thought it would be a good way to portray my magazines genre.

I have used a house style, and I have stuck to it through out my magazine. The house style shows that all of my pages belong together. The colours I decided to use are Red, Black and White. Mainly because they are the colours most people associate with Rock music, and the likes of Kerrang and NME magazine.

2. How does your magazine represent particular social groups?

I have presented my band as perhaps 2 personalities. The photographs I used help display this perfectly. One personality being the typical moody rock star in the front cover image, and then in the DPS I have represented the band as being the quirky, down to earth happy rock star ( shown through the smile in the photography)

A particular social group I have represented in my magazine is the typical teenage girl, because in the article the artist explains how she loves girly nights in with her friend watching Hugh Grant movies (Bridget Jones, Love Actually etc..) which is usually what you would expect of a group of teenage girls.

The use of Pull Quotes and copy in my DPS reinforce the representation of the band being quirky, happy and down to earth. For example the article shows that the band have a sense of humour when talking about harmless banter with other bands, and when talking about how down to earth they are and that they prefer sleepovers to parties helps display them as not the typical rock star celebrity.

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

Bauer Media publish magazines such as Kerrang, Empire, Mojo and Q. All of which my magazine has gained inspiration from. They might want to publish my magazine because it follows the same the conventions but is not identical. It’s the same yet different. My magazine aims to appeal at teenage girls who are interested in rock music – bands such as McFly, You Me At Six and All Time Low.

IPC Media publish NME and Uncut magazines. They might want to publish my magazine because they do not have a variety of music magazines, and mine would add to they’re collection. It would perhaps bring in a new audience.

Who would be the audience for your magazine?

Reader Profile - My target audience are interested in bands such as Mcfly, Paramore, YouMeAtSix and All Time Low.

Females; teenage girls aged 14-18.

Interested in Festivals

Favourite Brands.Favourite

Shops.

Elements I have included in my magazine – An in depth interview with a ‘rising star' who started off just being an ordinary

music magazine reader, it values the lifestyles of my target audience because it can show them that you don’t have to have a rich family to be able to make it in the music industry.

Advertising events such as Reading Festival and other various Gigs gives readers the opportunity to be able to see their musical idol’s perform live music and se them in the flesh.

Advertising ‘Exclusives’ with possibly some of the readers favourite bands allows them to get closer to their idols and learn how they made it in music also, it gives the readers a form of encouragement.

Audience Feedback.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BLY8XQJ - this is the link to the survey I created.

My magazine has been designed for a specific target audience ( females aged 14-18). The artist I have created and focused on I think appeals more to teenage girls because of the way she acts/dresses/speaks. The bands mentioned are also mainly male dominated so they would also appeal more to girls than boys.

What have you learnt about technologies?

I have learnt so much about Photoshop technologies since I first started the AS media course. When I first started using Photoshop I even found building up layers difficult, but now I know how to build up layers, use the history brush, and add effects to my work.

Gaussian Blur Tool

History Brush Tool

Curve Tool

I have used the blog’s to display my finished work. When I present my work on Microsoft PowerPoint, i upload the presentation to issuu.com and then upload on to my blog.

To receive some feedback for my audience research, I posted my survey on to facebook.

This is an image I edited using the Gaussian Blur and History Brush tools on Photoshop.

What have you learnt?

From this project, I have learnt so much about Photoshop. I have improved a great deal from my College magazine. I now know how to use many different techniques on Photoshop, compared to my basic knowledge from the College magazine. I can now edit photographs and text without having to play around ad do it by chance or mistake.

I have developed the skill of knowing how to build up and create a music magazine, I know the traditional conventions of a magazine and how to build u and create images on Photoshop.

This project has encouraged me to study A2 media, I have enjoyed AS media and A2 will allow me to build up my knowledge of production tasks and Photoshop even more.