Q4

Q4 .Mix is mostly targeted a international area but mostly a British audience but considering the magazine contains different genre of music which attracts a wider range of audiences because the type of music I portray and promote in my magazine.

As my target audience is mostly based on a young audience and a specific type which it people who are mostly interested in not only one type of genre of music but are interested in listening to a mixture of different genres for example rock,pop,hiphop,classic ect. and are mostly interested in gigs, festivals and concerts. Although there isn't a specific type of music i focus on attracting my audience, i think this is better as i gain a more of a variety on audience. There is no limit to my magazine and focuses of different races and my images in my magazine show this. Also another thing is that i don't focus to attract a main sex group but i planned on making my magazine unisex.

Q7

Since my preliminary task, I have learnt and developed my skills throughout to provide the outcome i have now. Going back through my preliminary task where i lacked skills and my photoshop knowledge was at a minimum, considering i rushed to complete this as i just thought of a colour scheme and went along with it you can clearly state that it had no professional touch to it, and looked disorganized.

One thing that i could say that boosted my music magazine to look how it looks now is by using the new photoshop skills i learnt and contributing it into my final product which clearly makes a big difference from my preliminary task as i intended it to professional which lacks on the preliminary task. Also using the Canon E05 400D camera in my preliminary task i had little and no knowledge of how to use the Canon E05 400D camera and most of my pictures  for this where very blurry and didn’t come out right as i didn’t know how to adjust the setting, but have experience that my images didn’t come out as i planned, in my final outcome images i made sure i knew what i was doing and used the right equipment to help me gain the pictures i wanted. In addition i feel i gained very little research to my specific target audience in my preliminary task so i had no knowledge of how people would want the magazine to look like or what they exactly wanted in the magazine so it was difficult to construct and had to use my knowledge of what i thought people wanted to see and read in the magazine. But in my final outcome i got a chance to hear people out and actually find out what they wanted to read in a music magazine and what type of music they liked ect. , which I felt was a advantage to my preliminary task.

Also because the preliminary task only consisted in making the front page and contents page, through out the making of my music magazine it gave me a obstacle to work on as i had to include a double page spread which wasn’t the same as using a A4 page and creating something on it, it consisted in producing something on a A3 double page spread and working on two page this again created a task which i overcame.

Q6

Throughout making my final product as well and using my own skills and putting it towards the task, I also developed and improved skills that helped me construct my magazine. The first new skill i learnt was how to use the camera canon E0S 400D to take all of my photos, I found that the second time i used this camera I found was more effective as I learned more about it for example how to hold the camera whether it was to take the picture in a landscape frame or a portrait frame considering whether it’s for the front page or the double page spread. Also another thing that I learnt was what functions to use on the camera during when the pictures were being taken for example if the picture was a close up I would have to change the settings to close up and if the picture is being taken from a distance you would have to also change the settings. Another new skill I learnt was also where the lighting should be depending on where the model is standing or positioned. All of my pictures I took were in a studio in the college, which I found a good use because of the right lighting and the background was one colour, which made it easier when it came to making my magazine and editing it. One problem about taking pictures is that I could not really hold the camera steady and some pictures would come out blurry that were the only problem during the task but I overcame it by using stand which I found more comfortable when taking the pictures because it was less of a struggle.


 

Another thing which I thought I learned a lot from is using Photoshop although I already had an idea of Photoshop but it was very limited and thought out the process I developed new skills and techniques when using Photoshop which not only helped me though out making my final outcome but would help me in the future. The Photoshop I had access to and mostly used was Photoshop C53 to produce my final outcome. Some of the new skills I learnt on Photoshop were how to edit the picture and use the ‘spot healing tool’ to erase all imperfections on my models face for example spots etc. this I found useful because instead of airbrushing the image and making it look to false it made the image a natural effect. Another was how to brighten my image and how to adjust the contrast and exposer to the image to make it look brighter and stand out more. In addition, another tool which I used throughout the making of my magazine was the ‘stoke tool’ which made a text stand out and appear bolder. It was something I never saw when using Photoshop, as it was quite hard to find, but now discovering it I was constantly using it especially on my front page for the master head and main cover line. I thought that the ‘stroke tool’ made the magazine more professional when in use.

What i also found i learned something new was when I didn’t want to use the fonts that were available to use on Photoshop so i didn’t exactly know how i could download new fonts on to photoshop. But i learned that from downloading any font from ‘dafont.com’ i could use a font which was more of something that i wanted this was new to me, and i found very helpful as my magazine wouldn’t look as it looks today.

Q5

Various things attracted the audience that it intended to. In addition, using my audience research helped me gained this. I attracted my target audience firstly by the front cover, which should immediately be eye catching to my target audience and the front page is the most important thing because it depends where the person should pick it up. Moreover, the front cover portrays everything that is going to be inside the magazine so is very important. In my front cover i tried to keep the amount of colours used to a minimum so i used the colours ‘burgundy, black and white’ i intentionally used theses colours because it seems effective and very unique and also unisex colours which apply to my target audience which are in to a mixture of genre of music. Theses colours included in my master head, my main cover line and my cover lines.  The colours are very eye-catching and the colour burgundies give it that iconic effect to the magazine itself so whenever the magazine is seen you would recognize the colour. The colour is also not used a regular colour so it would be seen as effective to the audience.

The fonts used in my music magazine on the front page as well as the other pages were also another factor of attracting my target audience. Firstly, on my front cover the master head font was one of the main things to attract the audience, as the master head should be the identity of the magazine as it’s meant to recognizable and iconic. I believe I did portray this by using a unique type font called ‘pistol’, which gives it the edgy effect, which goes with the type of audience I intended to attract. Secondly, the fonts I used for my cover lines and my main cover line where also a part of attracting my target audience by the type of font used, although i kept the cover line and the main cover line font very simple as i used ‘Ariel’ and changed the boldness of the writing but yet very effective. Thirdly, for my contents page i used another type of font, which was again unique and distinctive as it showed that it was something new and i did not want to keep the same type of main font throughout. This made it very attractive to the audience as it showed fresh and new just like the music they enjoy hearing. The rest of the fonts i kept with ‘Ariel’ to again, show simplicity but at the same time effectiveness towards the audience and to make it easier for them to read and find their way through the magazine.

Moreover,  my music magazines selling line is also another way which my audience could be attracted. My cover line stating ‘The Nations Favourite’ meaning most people enjoy reading this. Which already states that the magazine is well read in the nation and could even mean a trend.

In addition, the images on my music magazine are also a very important feature on the magazine as it is the main feature, which will attract my specific target audience. My main font cover image is a model, which is mix race this shows that the magazine is not focused on one particular race but it is in a mixture of races just like the target audience, which like a mixture of genre of music. I have purposely done this to attract the audience and different races as well. Secondly, the models posture is sitting down on a speaker with arms back and front in a sort of casual way but at the same time in a seductive way again to catch the attention. Plus, her facial expression is sort of a smirk looking up which also shows a sort of seductive pose. This is important to attract attention of the target audience as they are also attracted to the non-verbal communication in an image. Moreover, the way that the model is dress also determines to draw the target audience. In my music magazine the model is dressed in a casual way but also show bright colours in the outfit which also portray the way the target audience is and the way they could dress, which can also relate to the audience also drawing them in as they can relate more to the music magazine themselves.


 

Another way that my magazine could draw in my target audience is the way i address them. The language I used throughout my magazine included slang and normal English language i used the type, which will mostly attract my audience but at the same time can relate to the words used. For example one of the slang terms i used was ‘LDN Rocks’ meaning London is associated with a type of rock and roll. I used this term, as I believe that the majority of my target audience will somehow use sort codes and slang terms, it yet again relates to them, which is more likely for them to buy the magazine if it’s a part of them.   

Q3

I believe that IPC media would be the best to publish and distribute my music magazine; I have many reasons for this the first reason would be that because IPC media have a larger target audiences of women and men of different ages groups and publish a wide variety of magazines this will build a wider range of audiences for my music magazine. Secondly by publishing and distributing in IPC media will be a great opportunity to use their recourses for example shops and trucks this will be very beneficial for me because it will be easier for me to distribute my magazine. But as well as this benefiting me this will also benefit IPC media because my music magazine targets 15-20 year olds urban youth who enjoy a mix genre of music so IPC media will increase it popularity, by gathering a newer range of audiences who will appeal to a whole new market of people who enjoy different types of music .Another reason is that this will also be financially beneficial for to IPC media as I’m targeting different genre of music and this being popular as I am not only focusing on one  type but different this will mean I will be having a lot more advertisers wanting to advertise on my magazine such a river island and top shop, meaning that IPC media have a chance to form new connections and relationships with different companies.

After finding out that people will most likely buy a magazine though subscription I definitely encouraged setting up my magazine for subscription, because of the fact that subscription is popular and more people like the fact that the magazine can be sent straight to their door.

 I’ve decided to distribute my music magazine in very common and popular retailers for example newsagents, corner shops, supermarkets (Sainsbury, Tesco) and W H Smith, I choose theses shops in particular because all will be suitable to get my magazine more well known as it will be seen in popular stores which will mean more people will see it and buy it. To help me ICP will help me distribute by me using there trucks as this will be more convenient.

Q2

My music magazine is especially made for a teenage audience both female and male who can be into any type of genre of music as it doesn’t only try to attract one type of genre of music but a variety for example; hip hop , RnB, indie, rock, Latin and pop. My font cover picture represents the genre as its not focused on looking like one type of genre but just about fits into every category and also represents what the magazine is about.

The Way I intended to do this is by representing this through the clothing of the artist for example the pink cardigan and the light blue jeans and black top show vibrant colours as well as dark this look not only represents casual and laid back look but the colours express how each colour fits and represents which I feel sums up the genre and represent that particular social group as artists of that genre and listeners of that genre have a particular style and as well it also assonates the life style of the listener which is laid back.

But not only has the clothing showed the representation of the magazine but also the way that she’s posed the life style as she looks relaxed and chilled and smiling.

Q1

At the start I analysed a couple of real music magazines to gain a visual of how an actual music magazine is structured and how it’s suppose to be laded out, and what are the main items that need to be inserted into the magazine to make the magazine look more professional. Using the information whilst analysing a real music magazines I took different aspects, which I thought, made the real magazine look very stylish and still have the professional look to the magazine itself. I took those aspects in the real magazines and transferred them in the making of my outcome of my music magazine. I used many different aspects from the real music magazines one of them are the master head. I felt that the master head in the real music magazine was prominent and wanted to use the same effect on my music magazine. To use the effect that the real music magazine had i had to make my masthead prominent by increasing the size and also making it bold. I also had to make the mast head look professional so i had to find a specific font, but at the same time as making the masthead prominent and professional, i also had to make it distinctive, and also iconic. How i managed to do this is using dafont.com and downloading a specific font, which stood out to me and at the same time went with the theme of my music magazine and related to my specific target audience.

 In addition, another aspect i used from the real magazine is including the website, date, and what volume my magazine is at. This i believe gives the professional feel to my music magazine and its very specific on when the magazine was out and very useful to the audience.

Also the selling line in every real music magazine is really seen as the main selling point of a magazine because its stating the whole magazine it self. I most definite included this in my music magazine because as well as leading my target audience in with a couple of words i also wanted it to stand out in the shelves. My selling line is ‘The Nations Favourite’ this stating that already the magazine is a trend in the nation.

 Furthermore, from the real music magazine another effect to make my music magazine look more professional i included a bar code on the bottom left of the front cover. This makes the magazine look more professional itself.

Also another way in which a real magazine portrays proficiency is how the cover lines are placed, this is very important on how the cover lines are layout in the font cover because if there is to much cover lines it could obstruct the main image and so the main image won’t be revealed well. And if there is too little of cover lines then the audience won’t be informed of what the magazine is clearly about. So it was important to keep an adequate amount of cover lines so that the picture and the cover lines are balanced out. I also used a colour theme in writing the cover lines, which was burgundy, and white which matched the mast head. I wanted to keep the colour scheme simple but yet effective to look professional and yet attractive to the intended target audience. The font i used was ‘Ariel’ and played around with the boldness of the front so that it could look right. Yet again keeping the font simple so that cover lines look professional and effective but yet at the same time simple.















In the real music magazines, what was most common was to have a close up on the face on the front cover. But i wanted to be dissimilar and add a unique twist to my music magazine as i used a medium shot  i used this to create a non verbal communication  with the audience. So that the audience and be more attracted to the picture. And plus get to see more of the model as in clothing which again the audience can relate to.

Moreover, as well as analysing real magazine front covers i also analysed contents pages to gain more information in how a contents page should be layout and what actually makes a contents page look effective and look professional. Initially i included different columns depending whether the subjects were important most real music magazines will have one long column on one side of the page. But i felt that the way i done my contents page was more organised and at the same time different but at the same time it had the same feel as a real music magazine. Also another thing which my music magazine  is dissimilar to a real magazine contents is that normally the contents page will contain on large image of the most important subject in the contents page. But i differed from that and included a couple of images to exactly show whats in the magazine to my targeted audience and becomes more alive and different but still has that professional feel to it.

     

  But equal to the real music magazine i used the same sort of layout every double page spread has as i wanted to keep the professional look. I somehow differed the same theme from my front and contents page because i wanted it to look different and portray the subject about the artist so the page is more about the artist then anything else, but also attracts the target audience.

   

final outcome