Evaluation Question 7

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

Evaluation Question 6

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

The production of my magazine has made me use certain pieces of software and hardware that I would never have used if it were not for this task. The first example of technology I have used is Blogger.

Blogger is probably the only technology I have used before for other projects. It is one of the online technologies that I have used, however not for creative purposes but rather product publication and almost like a diary. It is a simple and easy website to use and is very effective without the need for extra effort to make posts appear more sophisticated.

Adobe Photoshop is a program that I have had brief experience before in, but not enough to a point where I didn't need assistance or demonstration. The program is a lot more complex than anything else I have used for this product but I fortunately did not need to use it frequently. It did eventually get easier as I only had certain tools to use in order to finish photo editing, but was also very time consuming, even to a point where I had to adjust certain planned features for my magazine in order to meet the minor deadlines.

Prezi is another online application that I have had to get accustomed with, but only for two of my evaluation questions in order to easily present it. This program was relatively straightforward to use after a bit of practice and was definitely a good choice of presenting technology to use.

The main application obviously was Adobe Indesign. I spent most of the hours of the process on this software in order to create my magazine cover, article and contents page. Like Photoshop, the application took a bit of demonstration to be able to be confident with, but this was during the preliminary task stage, so by the time I had began the product, I was comfortable with it and knew exactly what tools I needed in order to use it more successfully and even be more creative with it than previously.

Alongside these pieces of technology, I have also used hardware, such as computers, which I already know how to navigate through, and cameras, both video and picture capturing devices which have been a brief but important part in the process. All of these individual experiences are useful things which I can apply for future productions.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

When I started to develop my magazine, I quickly knew who my target audience would be, as proven in my mission statement;

"My target audience will be teens to early adults as that is generally the age for aspiring new bands, but that will not exclude 30+ if the age group has an interest in the topic."

The age range specifically was male 15-25 year olds, the age would match the informal approach to the audience and would hopefully sustain potential consumers in order to keep the magazine going. I chose the male gender as I thought the genre, content and representations contained would attract them and relate to them, rather than both genders or females alone.

Due to their age, I feel the magazine and all its offers would appeal as they are related to the target audience in terms of their opinions, topics and interests. Along with this, the growing social world across the internet, which thrives in the target age, can now share similar interests with other people of a similar age, by attending the same gigs, debating on the same articles and reading the same subjects discussed on AMPlified. The amount of consumers that express themselves is now more than ever, and with this target audience in mind, I feel that the magazine could really achieve success with its target audience

I also feel the audience are represented in my magazine, which supports the target audience choice. As discussed earlier, the images do represent a particular social group, in terms of their poses for example, they seem to be busy, enjoying themselves in their career aspiration. The same applies for clothing, all very typical of male youth, with hoodies, cardigans and smart casual shirts.

Their hair is also quite typical, there are examples of short, maintained hair and longer hair, two popular styles of the age group. The content of the magazine does also use a stereotype, in terms of the appeal of posters of popular successful bands for teens to put on their walls, information about the upcoming gigs in the country and free albums and a studio opportunity.

I conducted an audience survey with my target audience after the product was complete and analysed the results.

The masthead was associated with the terms "Loud" and "Rock" which is what I was aiming for in terms of impact. The main image suggested a "Rock Band, with a laidback and relatable atmosphere". The most interesting cover story was the story about the Indie Genre, as it offers opinions from people with similar mindsets. The front cover was voted as appealing as it was typical of similar magazines, easily readable and attention-grabbing.

The estimated age group that the product would appeal to was voted as 19-24 year olds, which is in my target range, making it effective in that sense, whilst male was by far the most voted gender the magazine was targeting.

The genre associated with the cover was divided in opinion, between Indie and Garage, which is basically my set genre. Meanwhile my contents page was voted as attractive, clear and resembling of a proper music magazine, although one in particular was not specified.

For the article page, it was mostly voted as an interest to read due to its headline, sub-description and offered the readers a chance to be the judge and have an opinion on this band. The main picture was seen as very representative of the accompanying article and the layout was rated a 4 out of 5.

However in general, most people said they would not buy the magazine as it was not their favourite genre to invest in, but did not deny that to the right audience, it would be effective.

Evaluation Question 3

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

If my media product was genuine, I would use Bauer Media to publish my magazine, and I will list my reasoning.

Firstly, they are a division of the largest, privately owned publishing group in Europe who have now become a global media empire. Their success and recognition could support my product and help it to grow even further with their cooperation.

Secondly, Bauer publicise their products with the use of cross-media platforms, such as Radio, Television and Internet, which could only further support my magazine in its goal to achieve popularity.

This isn't to say that other publishers like IPC Media, Imagine Publishing and Warners Group Publications don't offer what Bauer Media do, but seeing as most recognisable magazines are published by Bauer, and their success has generally grown since their establishment, its hard to really consider anyone else.

The only major advantage or disadvantage to joining Bauer Media as far as I can see, is that they don't really have a popular garage/indie magazine in their range that has had a massive amount of success or impact on the consumers, which suggests that maybe AMPlified could be the brand to change this, or perhaps the reason why is because the genre of the magazine does not appeal enough to potential consumers. However I feel this is a risk worth taking.

Evaluation Question 2

How does the media product represent a particular social group?

The aim of the product was to appeal to a certain social group, specifically 15-25 year olds. I feel my completed product achieved this in a number of ways.

The front cover was designed to appeal to my target audience in a similar way that Kerrang! does, they are informal, quite focused and the people featured in their magazine are usually rock, punk or garage genre artists. This is the direction I wanted to aim for, without the punk aspect and their dark coloured front covers like the one below:

Their pose can be described as relaxed and simply enjoying themselves. I wanted to achieve the same effect by using a picture of the boys just posing in a non strict fashion, but had to cut the rest of the band out of the image due to the limited space. 

I eventually ended up using the image on the left, which represents his age and social group with his pose, clothing and still relates to rock/garage music with the included guitar.

In the article, the best representational aspects can be seen from again the images but also the textual content. For example, the images show immaturity and fun whilst at band practice,

The text could also represent this social group of young adolescent men. Their responses were serious when needed, showing their adjustable maturity whilst also quite laidback and comical, particularly towards the end. This approach is actually typical of most magazines similar to this, it creates a comfortable atomosphere for an age that would behave in the same way.

Referring back to clothing, they wear clothing of the target social group, there are hooded jumpers, t-shirts, beanie hats, cardigans and chinos, which all could be seen as quite sterotypical, but they are extremely common with my target audience.

The contents page represents the social group through its images again, similar to above, such as the rebellious clothing in the far right picture on one of them, but also contrasts with the casual smartwear shirt, but still stays in the social representation.

Despite the target social group, I think my articles and features are worded to attract a slightly more mature and older audience, but still maintain the same level of appeal. This therefore suggests that my magazine represents its social group as quite mature and devoted garage music fans that wear informal comfortable, casual clothing who, if they have purchased the magaizne, can expect a laidback monthly packed issue.

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

AMPlified Contents Page - Complete

I have now completed my contents page.

I have added the final picture to represent the new bands featured in the magazine, accompanied by its corresponding page number, I have adjusted the yellow box for "A Word..." to make the message itself stand out.

The page, I think, represents a busy, successful, conventional magazine which hopefully would intrigue readers to read and get stuck in to the content.

AMPlified Contents Page - Fifth Draft

The next draft has sizing changes to the pictures featured, which leaves the final photo to be added, meanwhile I have added "A Word From The Editor" to give add to the magazines informal atmosphere and to bring the readers to a more personal level with the magazine in effect. However I am still changing the background design for the text as I do not feel completely pleased with it.

AMPlified Contents Page - Fourth Draft

The fourth draft has a couple of minor adjustments. Firstly I have now added another image representing the article on the "Sound Block Studio". Otherwise not much change has happened.

AMPlified Contents Page - Third Draft

The third draft has some slight changes. Firstly the boxes for the sections of the magazine have been given colour to stand out more. 

I have added two extra pictures of the front cover in the subscription notice to add interest to the subscription offer.

I have also added two more articles to the Features list to add more depth to the magazine.

From this point, I will make minor changes to the page and complete the final step of adding more images.

AMPlified Contents Page - Second Draft

My second draft has a few improvements. Firstly I have categorised the articles in the magazine into "Features" and "Gigs and Reviews" however the design of the boxes will probably change. 

Second, I have give the title a black background to match similar real contents pages. 

Finally I have added a subscription notice at the bottom keeping with codes and conventions of most contents pages who seem to advertise themselves whenever they can.

AMPlified Contents Page - First Draft

My first draft of my contents page gives the skeleton of what I hope will be the outcome. I have made the name of the page in the same way for my masthead to link it to my brand, whilst keeping the logo in the default place at the bottom right hand corner.

I have a list of articles from the front cover which I planned to use in this page and have done so here. I have also added a "Highlight" box to indicate the main article of the magazine.

AMPlified Double-Paged Article - Complete

This is my completed version of my magazine double-paged article.

Again, I have altered the position of the text as I said previously to keep to typical conventions, which presents a tidy, sophisticated layout whilst still maintaining informality with the headline, sub-headline and pull-quotes. The collage effect of the images I feel is rather effective and successfully portrays the band as I feel they should be.

I also added a bar and page numbers in my previous draft and have expanded upon this further by adding the brand of the magazine at the foot of the pages.

AMPlified Double-Paged Article - Fourth Draft

The next draft has many large changes. Firstly the background has been changed to black, I felt this could emphasise the text more and give the article a darker, rocky atmosphere.

I have again changed the placing of the text and images to make them stand out and create a loose, informal article, to match the personality and the genre. However this will most probably change again to keep with the usual conventions of articles.

AMPlified Double-Paged Article - Third Draft

This draft has had signicant changes made since the last. Firstly the font of the title has been changed as a trial to see if it works with the rest of the article. Secondly I have capitalised the "I" at the beginning to stick to the conventions of most articles. Next I have continued to use the box and text format for my pull-quotes from the text, so as to stand out from the page and grab attention.

I also decided to change the layout again as I wanted a busier looking article, therefore the text is not positioned in usual plain paragraphs and instead is placed around the page, divided between pictures and pull-quotes. The positioning of pictures is likely to change however.

AMPlified Double-Paged Article - Second Draft

My second draft has made slight progress over the previous one. Mostly the template, font and method of using black boxes at tilted angles containing the sub description. This will be used more in my next draft.

The position of text has also changed as I liked the layout of text on one side and accompanying images on the right.

AMPlified Double-Paged Article - First Draft

My first draft of the article consists of mostly positioning of text on the pages, there isn't enough to use to fill up most of the gaps, but its enough to make an effective article. I have created the title and accompanying description which is informal, reflecting the magazine and is quite effective.

AMPlified Front Cover - Complete

I have completed my front cover.

I have made all coverlines the same font to make them readable whilst still keeping to the theme of the cover.

The main addition to the page is the main coverline which is coloured yellow to stand out on its own, but still keeps to the look and style of the magazine. Along with this I have altered the positioning of the main image and the coverlines to show a comfortable fit for each item on the cover. I am pleased with the outcome of it.

AMPlified Front Cover - Fourth Draft

I have made some significant changes to the cover recently. I have added another coverline on the left hand side as well as altering to colour of different sentences to add more interest to the cover.

I have also added a black frame for the cover whilst placing a banner at the top, to attract potential buyers that can apply to a majority of people.

I added a fill for the word "AMP" in order for it to stand out for the background.

AMPlified Front Cover - Third Draft

I have continued to add my coverlines to the cover whilst still trialling different fonts and sizes to use for it as well as changing the tightness of the feather tool on the main image, to be as natural as possible.

I have also added a website address to represent the brand in order to show its attempts to appeal to readers online as well as usual readers and that it has more than one platform for publication.

AMPlified Front Cover - Second Draft

This is my second draft but first done in Adobe Indesign. The coverlines are not complete as there are more but so far they work in terms of positioning and style. 

The colour scheme at the moment for the magazine is simply black and white, which suits the main image and contrasts the flash on the left, making it stand out.

AMPlified - Front Cover Image

This is the image I will be using for my front cover. I had to edit out the other band members as seen below, in order for the image to fit the front cover. Joel, pictured above, is the front man of the band therefore I have chosen to put him on the front cover to represent his featured band, Diamond City. The image works as he is making direct contact to the camera/audience and has a pose which is easily identifiable as a confident musician.

AMPlified Front Cover - First Draft

This is my first draft of my music magazine front cover. I have the masthead in the top central position which stands out, a feature necessary for a successful magazine. The main image will act as the background whilst being very noticeable. The coverlines have their own space on the cover therefore are clear to the reader, and the main coverline stands out at the bottom of the page. It is a very minimalistic cover but effective.

Audience Research

I conducted audience research on my blog using an online poll to get suggestions for how I should produce my music magazine.

When asked which masthead people preferred, 100% of the votes chose the masthead "AMPlified", because of this, I will use this masthead on my cover.

When asked how many images should be on a front cover, 60% of voters said 1 and 40% said 3.

When asked if people would read a magazine that focused on new, aspiring and independent bands instead of established bands, 66% of voters said 'Yes with occasional mention of established bands', while the other 33% simply said 'Yes'

When asked what age group the voters are in, 75% were 15-17 and 25% were 18-20

Using this information, I can produce a music magazine cover that is mostly effective with the target audience.