Final Products

Front Cover

Contents Page

Double Page Spread

Evaluation Question 7

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

Before I started work on producing my final products, I carried out a preliminary task of creating a front cover and contents page for a college magazine, using original images taken around the college campus and my own sell lines and content. From carrying this task out I got a basic idea of what goes into the designing and making of a magazine however I was not very advanced at using software such as Photoshop therefore there was a lot to learn from this to creating my real products. Despite this, I achieved a grade A for this piece of work which was something I aimed to maintain with my final work so ensured I took into consideration the elements of my work that my teacher gave positive feedback on and tried to build on them and improve them further. I have created a Prezi presentation which follows progressions in my work from the preliminary task to now, looking at elements such as the photography and image quality, editing, content/mode of address and layout.

Evaluation Question 6

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

I have learnt a huge amount about different forms of technologies in the process of completing my research and planning section and then in the construction of my product. This includes learning how to use software that was new to me such as the equipment in the photographic studio, iMovie and Adobe Photoshop.

Altering the exposure in iPhoto

Almost all of my work was completed either on my personal macbook or an iMac, both of which I am very familiar with using, therefore when editing my photos initially I used some software already on these computers - iPhoto. This allowed me to review the photographs I had taken and narrow them down to the few I was going to use in my final work. I could make slight alterations to them, such as removing minor blemishes on my model to give her a flawless look, and altering the exposure of the images before opening them in Adobe Photoshop to edit them properly and incorporate them into my designs. 

Constructing my double page spread in Photoshop

Photoshop was a programme I had previously used but only to design fairly basic products, therefore in order to create my magazine on this software I needed a lot of practise to get to grips with tools such as editing the shadows, using the magic wand, and how to function the many different layers involved. For my double page spread, I was advised to use InDesign as an alternative to Photoshop as it allowed you to create perfect columns, however the computer I was using had problems opening the programme so instead I found it was as easy to arrange my text perfectly in Microsoft Powerpoint and copy it over to Photoshop afterwards. Although this is not as advanced a method it was the only one available and worked out really well in my final product.

DaFont.com

As there was not a huge range of suitable and interesting fonts installed onto my computer already, I visited the website 'DaFont.com' which offered hundreds of fonts for absolutely anything, and narrowed it down before downloading fonts such as Bebas Neue onto my computer to play around with before I found a one suitable for my product. 

To edit the video footage I shot of my audience feedback, I used iMovie for the first time, I had to first experiment with the programme to work out how to crop, cut and edit my video clips to remove any unsuitable parts or join more than one clip together. After establishing how to use it correctly I used iMovie to create short video clips which I then exported and uploaded to my blog as part of my research and planning, and evaluation which was very useful as it allowed me to put real footage of members of my target group feeding back to me on my work. I taught myself how to add transitions such as a blur and fade out, and also how to edit the audio of the clip to change the volume or speed of it. 

For taking the photographs for my magazine, I hired out the photographic studio at Sunderland University and was then able to use all of their professional equipment, such as the studio lighting and backdrop. As you can see in the image below, it was quite a small set but took some time to get to grips with, the owner of the studio was the one who helped set up the camera however then left me to experiment myself with the various lighting. To change the colours of the lighting I simply covered the studio lights with large filters, which were like coloured cellophane to create accent colours which came out well in my images as they cast shadows and gave an unusual lighting effect rather than bright harsh white. These can be seen in the photos below where my models are holding them up. A round metal dish was also used and positioned at various angles throughout the shoot to manipulate where the lighting and shadow was cast on the models face and the outcomes of this were also effective.
 

Some images of the studio set up including lighting and a plain white backdrop.

 

The camera I used for this was the Canon EOS 600d, which was extremely good for the purpose as it was in HD quality and gave me photos which were extremely good quality. I was already familiar with using this camera as it belongs to my family however not in this scenario, so I had to experiment quite a bit before I got to grips with it. The camera was connected and adjusted accordingly to the external flashes of the studio lighting, rather than its own flash which would make the photos come out dull and dark as you can see in the images below, the ISO was lowered during these adjustments. The detailed specification of this camera can be found here. 

 

 

 Other technologies I used, were google docs to create a questionnaire and feedback form for my audience profile, social media such as Facebook for making my arrangements with models, and emailing to make arrangements with the studio and book a slot. I also used Blogger which is something I had used slightly in the past so came to grips very quickly with but found an extremely useful way of documenting the whole process of constructing my product, in a way in which I could easily refer back to previous work and track my own progress as well as displaying it all in an interesting way. I used Prezi to create presentations which is something I struggled with at first as I had issues creating a path which worked properly however once I knew how to work it, this free online programme proved extremely useful as a way of displaying information for my evaluation in a logical and unusual way. Other programmes I used for the first time for my evaluation was Animoto in which I made a short video of images representing the distribution techniques I discussed and this made it slightly more interesting and exciting to look at. I used Flickr to add annotations to my final products which was another way of highlighting exactly which aspect was being discussed like I did on Prezi. Overall I have learnt a huge amount of skills and acquired a lot of knowledge about different technologies, old and new in order to carry out the whole process of constructing my products, from initial research and planning to my final products and evaluation. Without this wide range of technologies my project would be much more dull and a lot of it would not have been possible.

 

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

After researching into my target audience's interest and therefore what they would look for and need in a music magazine, I had to ensure my magazine catered to these needs by successfully attracting and addressing my audience. I think I have been very successful in doing so in a number of ways, and to show this I have uploaded my final product designs to Flickr and added a number of annotations to each product highlighting the areas which will particularly appeal, based on my audience profile. The links are attached to the following titles (must be signed in to a flickr account to view annotations)

Front Cover
On my front cover I have highlighted aspects such as the language, competition, cover star, banner and low cost which all have elements which are particularly attractive to my target audience to encouraging them to initially buy the magazine when they see it on the shop shelf.

Contents Page
On my contents page I have highlighted aspects such as the title, subscription box, contents featured, layout and images, as things which will appeal to my audience in ensuring it is aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate around.


Double Page Spread
On my double page spread I have annotated elements such as the image, mise-en-scene, pull quote, flash box and language/content of the article to appeal to my target audience and encourage them to read the article.


Some general additional elements of my magazine which I have ensured I took into consideration in order to suit the wants and needs of my audience are the overall language and register, and the colour scheme.

Top of the Pops

Kerrang

My own product

I think I have been especially effectively in using aspects which will attract my audience, such as a competition, list of artists and attractive cover model however I could have addressed my audience more as I only directly referred to them in my competition section using "you". This example makes them feel as though it is very personal and achievable to them, encouraging them to open the magazine and find out more. On looking at existing examples of publications, I am aware that the audience is addressed much more clearly by using language which is clearly relevant to the age group. For example in TOTP very colloquial language is used which relates to the very young female audience reflecting the types of language they would tend to use themselves, and Kerrang is aimed at an older, rock group and again the language and topics features reflect this, as they are clearly relevant for older people and are more unusual, intriguing phrases. Despite this, I have used language which manipulates my audience but in a more subtle way, such as "don't miss a minute" to create some urgency so it is more indirect and therefore doesn't lower the formality of the magazine - I did not want it to be too informal as many teenagers may find this patronising because as you can see from the example of Kerrang, an older audience is not addressed as casually and therefore my audience may think the magazine is actually aimed at a younger teen than 16+. The language used on all three products is still fairly friendly and the vocabulary is not too advanced so it is accessible to everyone and doesn't seem too up-market/upper class.

My colour scheme will appeal to my target audience as it is limited to a colour palette of light blue, navy, and a pinky red. Although this branches away from the conventional red colour of music magazines, this colour scheme will definitely appeal to my target audience as I have ensured it is not all blue therefore is gender neutral, and even the blues featured are not necessarily just associated with males, as it is a bright light sky blue shade and a navy, both of which are popular with girls too. The connotations of my colour scheme are youthfulness, fun and liveliness, all things which all members of my target audience will find appealing. The way I have combined colours so nothing blends together and everything stands out well from the rest of the things on the page means it is particularly eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing which a young audience will find very attractive and unique on the shop shelf. As well as this, I have maintained this colour scheme throughout every page and even in the mise-en-scene of the images which gives some order and consistency to the magazine - something teenagers find appealing in their lives.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for Beat is young people in the age range of around 16-19. This target audience would include both genders and specifically music fans of a few genres, mainly chart music, but also alternative music, dance and more. In order to ensure my magazine would appeal to this target audience I have chosen, I had to research into the lifestyle of these people so that I could create content and design which would attract them and be suitable for its purpose. I created a questionnaire which I asked some members of my target audience to fill in in order to come up with an audience profile.

Results of audience profile survey

They would spend their money on the latest fashions, vintage style products, makeup, concert/festival tickets and the latest technology. They would prefer to spend their free time socialising with friends and family through things such as parties, gigs, going to the cinema, for meals or shopping and spend their money mainly on fashion, food, makeup, concerts and alcohol. Another important attribute of my target audience is that they have a keen interest in keeping up to date with the latest news in terms of celebrities and popular cultures. They would use social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tumblr frequently to keep up to date with such things and keep in touch with friends. Typically they would be of a working class background, and likely to be students either at A level, or university stage. Reflecting this would be the sorts of TV shows they are interested in watching, British such as Made in Chelsea, Skins and The Inbetweeners as well as popular American shows such as Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Breaking Bad, which are not all but largely targeted at a group in my chosen age range. From the questionnaire I carried out it can be seen that my target audience particularly enjoy movies in the genres of rom coms, comedies and horrors as these are easy to watch and full of entertainment, something I similarly tried to apply to my magazine in order to satisfy the needs of the audience in this way, by making my magazine easy to understand and navigate around as well as being packed with features to keep them entertained. The fashions they would be like would be both high fashion combined with popular trends and also quite classical vintage style clothes such as the fur jacket that my main model is seen wearing on my contents page and double page spread. The types of clothes shops my target audience would shop in would be largely mainstream high street stores such as Topshop for girls, Zara, Urban Outfitters and H&M for both genders. They would have an interest in keeping up to date with new fashions but also new music, by discovering up and coming artists and helping spread the word  through networking sites, acting as opinion leaders  They would be interested in a wide range of music genres, including popular chart music such as Beyoncé and Jay Z, alternative music like Arctic Monkeys and The xx, and also dance/house music such as Ben Pearce.



My magazine would appeal to my target audience as it includes a huge range of music artists and therefore genres - there is something for everyone, and the models used are of a similar age range and would have similar interests to them so it would therefore feel very relatable, current and personal to them, reflected in the articles featured such as 'Festival Update' and also the style of clothing, hair and makeup they are wearing. This is related to the two paradoxes of a star, that they should be ordinary and extraordinary, and also available but unavailable, and my models are successful in this as they feel relatable to my audience but at the same time they are separated by their status which makes them seem something for the audience to aspire to be like.

Based on this target audience, I have asked people who would fit into this group to give me some feedback on my final products in order to find out how successful I have been in catering to their wants and needs. The following videos contain positive reasons as to why these members of my target audience like my products and would be interested in buying them regularly, as well as, if there were any, some improvements I could make in order for them to be even more keen on my magazine.

Grace is a 17 years old female who fits in exactly with my everything highlighted in my audience profile, and gave feedback on my front cover.

                                         

Travis is a 16 year old male who is part of my target audience, having interests in all of the aspects highlighted in my audience demographic, and gave feedback on my contents page.

Emily is an 18 year old girl who is near the older end of my target audience group, however has interest in all of the free time activities and genres of music I have covered therefore fits in well with my target audience, and she gave me feedback on my double page spread.

This feedback has ensured to me that the products I have created are successful in being suitable and appealing to member of my target audience, as well as previous feedback I received throughout the process of creating my designs which is recorded earlier in my blog. 

Evaluation Question 3

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

Existing publications by Bauer

During my research and planning, I looked into lots of different media institutions which produce magazines in order to identify which ones would be suitable for my product and likely to distribute it. From this research  I came to the decision that Bauer Media would be the institution to distribute my magazine as it is familiar with producing magazines and has a huge variety of publications in genres such as lifestyle and sport, however despite producing some of the most popular music magazines on the shelf like Q and Kerrang, there is a gap in the market here for my product. They do not produce any magazines aimed at an audience as young as mine (around 16-19) and although Q has similarities to my genre, it is not the same as mine is more similar to NME in terms of being aimed at a younger audience with an interest in the genre of alternative music. Bauer Media has other media platforms relating to music such as radio stations so they are extremely familiar with how this industry and marketing works giving the company an edge on its competitors, therefore despite not having any titles like my own currently, there would be no real issues with marketing it at the target audience. This is largely because on a whole the institution covers a broad readership of audience types and this is something which my magazine also incorporates as it has many music genres within it.

This snippet from the website outlines how successful the institution is compared with it's competitors and this alone assures that my magazine would be a success as this institution understand exactly how to engage an audience and market a product so it is a success and creates revenue.

As stated on the website, Bauer media is  one of the most competitive and established institutions

IPC is another successful institution which is responsible for publications such as NME. Despite this being fairly similar to my magazine in terms of target audience and genres included so would be extremely familiar with how to advertise and create appeal with this kind of magazine, I chose not to go for this publisher as I did not want there to be any direct competitor for Beat which would result in the sales and revenue of the product being split, as very similar people are targeted for both. Instead of this I would prefer an institution like Bauer, which is as highly successful, to publish my magazine as it would be the only one of its kind from this company and therefore much more focus would go into it.




An important consideration for my magazine is how to best distribute it in order for it to attract a broad readership and generate lots of sales. This can be done in a number of ways, I have shown examples of this in a short Animoto video and elaborated on the details of these methods in the following Prezi presentation.



Magazine Distribution

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

As my media product is aimed at a very wide range of people within my target audience - as more than one genre of music is covered. This includes alternative music but also chart music, for both girls and boys aged around 16-19. The social groups represented as a result of this are everyone within this age range but in my images, particularly the girls who aspire to be have quite high fashion mixed with vintage style images which is reflected in the clothing, hair and makeup, as well as quite rebellious people, possibly more likely to be males, in this age range who enjoy going to festivals. On the whole, the images I have taken represent young people in a fairly normal way, there is nothing too dramatic and unusual about the looks I have conveyed and this will make the models, seem ordinary and available to the audience to connect with , yet at the same time unavailable and extraordinary as these are the two paradoxes of being a star and this conveys that the images are supposed to be of well established music artists, not just random models.

The first social group my magazine represents is fans of the rock and roll/alternative music, shown by my cover model who is wearing dark black clothing covered with a leather jacket, with dark hair surrounding her face and dramatic makeup. I have chosen to compare this image with Cara Delevingne, an extremely popular fashion model who is only slightly older than my target audience and is someone who many people aged 16-19 look up to and would aspire to be like. Her style as you can see from this image, is very similar to the one my model is wearing, with dark leather clothing giving a grungy rock look, and exaggerated hair. She also has equally as dark and mysterious looking smokey eye makeup, but has a pale lip whereas my model has a dark red - this is an exaggeration of the representation of this group and was used to pull the readers eyes to this as it was a front cover image, as well as creating synergy with the colour scheme. The background of the images are very similar, they are plain white which gives the impression both images are taken in a studio setting by a professional photographer, highlighted by the bright, contrasting lighting of both showing every feature, perhaps suggesting that this social group is youthful and are open, welcoming people. This setting doesn't give much away about the interests and hobbies of the social group however the simplicity of it could reflect their simplistic, straight forward attitudes which some may seem as intimidating. 

 The facial expression of both is very similar, it is quite a straight, serious face but with a hint of an invitational smile, which although the whole image and attitude of this social group is quite edgy and unique, gives them a more down to earth and approachable image, making them seem more relaxed and someone who my target audience would want to relate to and have a friendly conversation with. Cara Delevingne is known for her care-free, full of fun attitude however this image doesn't reveal much of that side to her personality, other than the relaxed hint of a smile, which makes this social identity seem mysterious and intriguing - despite their personalities really being sociable and friendly, they choose not to give too much away. This is something I feel I have successfully reduplicated in my own images as my model has this appealing mystery to her which will entice a reader into buying the magazine when they see her on the front cover. In general this group would be explorers who enjoy finding new things, such as up and coming music, and enjoy a challenge.

The second social group my magazine represents is young people who aspire to celebrity culture and have an interest in both high fashion and vintage. This is evident by the clothing of my model as she is wearing fairly modern, perfectly done makeup and accessories, like festival bands which is relevant to my target audience who enjoy music festivals, whilst in contrast wearing a classic vintage fur coat which makes her look mature and sophisticated. Being seen as mature and quite classy is one of the ideologies of this group of people which is reflected in their mannerisms, as you can see in this image the model is looking quite elegant and as though she is trying to replicate the style of someone from a higher social class, but has still got her mis-matched bracelets and fun attitude along with it, which brings her back down to earth. This social group would be likely to have an interest in mainstream chart music which is one of the main genres featured in my magazine. To represent this group I have  compared my model with Barbara Palvin, a young up-and-coming model of a similar age, who represents all of the ideologies I have described. As you can see in the images, their poses are almost identical, both are looking away from the camera whilst throwing their heads back in a super smiler pose as they are clearly laughing, as though being entertained by others, which shows how sociable and lively this social group is. They represent the youthful and creative members of my target audience, and the matching hair styles show that this is a somewhat  mainstream style therefore this would be their consumer style and popular culture is something they like to keep up to date with and follow. The lighting in both emphasises the models, giving them flawless faces and both images a very bright, contrasting look which distracts from the background as this is unimportant - this social group have the ability to have fun and fit in wherever they are. This representation I have addressed in my images would represent the masses, but also aspirers who are materialistic people who are driven by status in life and others perceptions of their appearance, fashion choices and more.

The third social group my magazine represents is teenagers in my target audience age group of 16-19 who are quite rebellious and enjoy hanging around in the streets and going to parties. They are interested in the lifestyle of teenagers who lived in the 80/90s who lived a rebellious and fun filled lifestyle, likened to the style of living they may have seen in TV shows they will enjoy such as Skins. This social group would be interested in alternative music, and also dance which are two of the key music genres featured in my magazine. To represent this I have compared my model to Rihanna, an extremely popular mainstream artist but who carries strong attributes and ideology which are similar to those of the social group I am aiming to represent with this image. Both are in a side ways pose, with an arm in front of their body holding a cigarette, which creates some distance between the star and the audience - this gives the impression that this social group are quite closed off and not very open to others who don't have the same views and beliefs as them. Despite this, this pose makes the models look quite elegant at the same time by the way they are lighting holding the burning cigarette and surrounded by swirling smoke, representing how as humans, members of this social group also have a softer side even though they choose to disguise it. The facial expressions of both make them seem attractive but fairly intimidating and harsh, along with the dull lighting of my own image which adds to the grungy, lack of care sort of attitude. In contrast to this the image of Rihanna is harsh contrasting light, clearly done in a studio which makes her seem extremely significant but at the same time still quite distant and closed off, as though the spot light is on her but her facial expression suggest she does not like it. This again represents the quite private attitudes of this social group. The costume and location of my image is slouchy and urban, with an outdoor setting which stereotypically represents how these people would hang around streets, possibly causing trouble and engaging in things such as smoking and drinking. This would be the social group my festival feature would be mainly targetted at, as they are interested in the festival atmosphere and experience.  Rihanna and this social group both carry many attributes of the typical characteristics of a music star highlighted by Richard Dyer's star theory, such as rebellion, an anti-authoritarian attitude, possible some agression/anger and a disregard for social values, many of which are demonstrated in these images. This group would be made up largely of reformers, who carry the attitude "don't tell me what to do or what to think".