Feedback

After finishing my magazine,I had to include comments from members of my target audience.To do this,I set up a Facebook group,where young females aged 15+ can comment on my work.
Here are some printscreens from the feedback:
Double Page Spread:







Contents Page:


Front Cover:

Evaluation of the finished magazine

Here is a link of my finished front cover:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1JR4gOQbA9vYjQzNzUxNjQtNjliYi00OGQwLTkwZTktNmMyMjVhMzVhMzg2&hl=en

Here is a link of my finished contents page:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1JR4gOQbA9vNzkyMDM1MmUtM2EyYy00OGFiLWJmMGItNjkwZjg3ZmI1MzA3&hl=en


Here is a link of my finished double page spread:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1JR4gOQbA9vZTBhZmZjMzctNDk1NC00MzJkLTg0NGItNDQ2MjBlMmJjOTg5&hl=en



For my Media AS coursework I had to create a music magazine and promote it to a specific audience.The genre of my magazine was pop and my target audience was females aged 15+.
The colours I have used are mainly bright colours such as pink,red,blue,yellow which i think would invite the audience to a nice and funky atmosphere.I have looked into famous British pop magazines such as 'Top of the pops' and 'Smash hits' to get an idea of what techniques I am going to use to create my project.The genre of my magazine is pop music,as I am a fan of pop and knew this would engage me doing this piece of coursework.The target audience is 15+ as most pop fans are teenagers or females in their 20s.
While creating my magazine I referred to 'Top of the pops' .They usually feature a female artist and use bright and warm colours on the front cover. The title I have chosen for my magazine is 'FAME' written in 'Franklin Gothic Heavy' font with a drop shadow.The girl on the cover is the girl being interviewed in my double page spread.The costume she wears is completely black so it can contrast with her blond hair and the pink background.
The strap line 'Britains No 1 Pop Magazine',which I've used at the top of my front cover,gives the audience a little hint what this magazine is about and what reputation it has.
For my front cover I have tried to use the rule of thirds so it can direct the viewer's eye to the centre of interest in the picture.The main image is not positioned right at the centre of the page,but the girl is still making eye contact with the reader.

For the sells on my cover I have used a limited colour palette.The main flash is written with red bold letters same and a bigger font compared to the other sells.I believe that this way it captures the reader's attention and this could be the first article to be read.To make it more effective I have written the main flash diagonally so it can stand out and grab the viewer's eye.
The main sells I have put give the reader a clue to a chatty magazine's personality thanks to the language I have used which is more colloquial and informal. They are laid out around the image and some placed diagonally to highlight and emphasises them in a different way as my magazines is aimed at an youth audience(15+).

I have also put a price and a date, which will help the audience know how up to date the information in the magazine is. They are placed under the masthead so people can spot them quickly.

Some music magazines have boxes or another shapes with information inside around the front cover so they can catch the reader's attention. I have also added a circle which informs the audience that there is a free DVD inside the magazine.This way they will be more interested in buying it as it's the same price but with a free item inside.

Another page I had to create was a contents page.I have looked in some pop music magazines to have an idea of what information to put and how to design the page.The colours I have used are similar to the colours on my front cover.The contents page includes the title written in the same font but different colour,'Contents' written at the top left corner in bold purple letters.I have divided the contents into 3 different sections:Cover,Celebs and Plus.The yellow colour line under the name of the sections are there and the same as the tile,so they can contrast and be linked with the title.

There will be a 'Horoscope' section which I've mentioned in my contents page.The majority of this target audience likes to read and believe in their horoscope.This can be another little thing that would make the audience interested in reading the magazine.


The final piece of my media coursework was to do a double page spread.The article I have written is about 'Vanessa Parsons'(the girl from the cover) and it's represented as an interview transcript with questions and answers.The title 'Vanessa Parsons' written at the top of my page and the small pictures right before the title give the audience a small introduction to the page.I have also put a pull quote on the second half of the DPS as most people tend to read any pull quotes fir ts.The colours I have used are again mainly bright colours-the same I've used for the previous pages.The questions I have asked are written in 'Trebuchet MS' red bold font. 'Trebuchet MS' is classed as Sans Serif Typeface and I have used it so the questions can stand out and grab the viewer's eye.The rest of the text(the answers)is written in a font which keeps the reader's mind directed to the text without any distractions.The whole second page of my DPS is taken up by a picture of the singer.I haven't put any other text apart from the pull quote as some people like to put clear pages as posters on their walls.
The pink circle which goes over the second page provides an extra information about the girl and is there to catch reader's attention.

Looking at my media product,I think it is similar to other existing pop magazines. One of the conventions I looked at was strap lines and mastheads written in big bold letters,images,etc.At the same it differs from other magazines as not all of them use the rule of thirds to place a picture.Also some of my main sells are written diagonally and vertically,so it can look more attractive and stand out in the newsagent.
For both the preliminary and main task I had to use pictures taken by myself and edit them if necessary.
The fonts I have used are simple and eye-catching,but not too obtrusive.

The target audience for my music magazine is females aged 15+.The main image on the cover is of a girl aged 19,which is suitable for this audience.It is mainly aimed at females readers but there are also males who would buy this magazine.
I have used mainly an informal language so people can relax and don't over strain their mind too much while reading.
Most images are edited in a way that would attract the audience.Words such as 'gossip','celebs','exclusive' catch the reader's attention.The majority of young females are interested in reading gossips about celebrities and discussing them with their friends or finding further information about their idol.

The flat plans were made by hand,but the actual magazine was made with the help of InDesign.I also had to use the Internet all the time for research on genres,information about target audience,fonts and typography.

Looking back at my preliminary task I feel I have made a progress. I have learnt how to use the software better and how to work with Indesign and Photoshop.


One of the strenghts of my final product was the design of the front cover and DPS. I spent a big amount of time to make it look real and thought well about colour, images,texts,etc.Looking into different existing magazine,gave me an idea of what techniques to use in mine.


My magazine would be stock in specialist record shops such and also shops such as WHSmiths.They would choose to stock this magazine in their shops as today's magazines are mainly about rock.This way pop fans will be interested in discovering something new and different from the rest of the magazines.

Planning and Evaluation of the article

Music magazines typically feature different source of article as double page spreads.Interviews are the most common articles found in nearly each magazine.They can be represented as a transcription full of questions and answers or a summary with key points with quotes.Another type of article will be 'Profile'-basically it's an in depth interview of someone.

I have found this article about Madonna in Smash Hits magazine:


This article is slightly old.It was written by David Keeps in 1985.The main heading of the page which is the title of the article is written in big white letters and is in contrast to the pink rectangle background.
Most of the article is covered in quotes from Madonna,which the interviewer David Keeps analyse.The pull quote written in big bold letters at the top is put there to grab the reader's attention.
The text is written in four grids which is easy to read and it's separated with lines between each column,so the reader can easily follow the text.
This article is suitable for the audience as most of the quotes are written in a slang or in a way that would make young females carry on reading.Magazine such as Smash Hits tend to use informal language,so that the reader is not engaged in trying to concentrate on the text,but instead can relax and entertain themselves.Paragraphs seem to be longer as this page is divided into 4 grids, but the sentences themselves are short and clear.Most of the article is written in present tense which feels like it's happening at the moment and it's also more engaging.



Here's link of an online article in the form of an interview from Top of the Pops magazine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp/news/interviews/2006/10/16/37061.shtml

This article is written in a interview form.It will again engage the target audience,as the article is written in informal language.Interviews tend to make the atmosphere between the interviewer and the person being interviewed friendlier and chatty.This is shown by the use of language.The questions are asked in a way so that the answers can be humorous-e.g.
Nicola: Distinctive noises? Like "Wahhhh!" or They think I've got this selective hearing thing.... This interview is written in a way that would keep the reader's interest.The questions are short and clear which gives the reader encouragements to keep reading.


To create my article for my double page spread,first I had to look into the same genre magazines to have an idea of what language to use, how to make it interesting,how will my text attract the reader,what fonts to use,etc.Most magazines feature a direct interviews on double page spreads so I decided to create one for the new star Vanessa Parsons. I believe that the questions I have asked are suitable and creating a rather friendly atmosphere.The questions are all about how has Vanessa's life changed since she won the big music show Music Idol. I have used informal language for my article as most pop fans would rather read something easy without thinking about it much.I have tried not to use too long sentences as they can lose the readers' attention. To attract my audience I have put a pull quote on the second page.Readers tend to read first any pull quotes or heading written in different bigger font and then read the small text.Making the pull quote in a bigger font does not only stand out from the rest of the text but shows an interesting fact or thought of the person being interviewed.This helps the audience get to know Vanessa better.

This is a draft of my double page spread,which i later improved:

What I improved in this page was the text.I addressed the question more carefully and made the answers more engaging.I have also put a number on each questions so the reader can follow the interview.The picture on the right corner on the first page will not be in my final version,as the staging is not appropriate.To view my final cover go to next Blog Evaluation of the Finished Magazine.

Photo Editing

This is one of the first pictures I took when starting the media project.This one I decided to put as my main image on the front cover.Originally the background was bushes and grass but this will only distract the viewer and most pop music magazines have one colour background in contrast with the main image.To change the background to be pink I have used Photoshop.The girl is wearing a black outfit which would perfectly match with the background and make the photo more appealing and outstanding.






This is another picture I have decided to use and edit.To make some changes I have used another program called 'Photoscape'.With the help of the program and the 'Region(out of focus)' option I have made a black shadow around the two girls which crops some bits of the original background.I believe that this way the picture looks more mysterious and it will attract the audience.









This is another photo being edited with the program Photoscape.First I have cropped the picture as there were blurry figures in the original which were distracting to the viewer's eye. Second I have put a 'film effect' which makes the picture brighter and the colours of the costumes stand out.

Photos

I have decided that this photo is going to take up the whole right side page in my double page spread.The model isn't looking at the camera but her smile and the sun invites the audience to a nice atmosphere and it shows a cheerful character.I decided to take this photo with this background as it contains some of the colours of the rainbow which makes the photograph more appealing.The photo reflects the normal life of girl.Again she isn't right in the middle of the picture as I think this way it looks more provocative. I might edit this photograph by making the light darker and maybe crop the bottom of the picture.



This is the second picture I am going to use for my double page spread. I will place it in the top left corner so it's linked to the title of the page-'Vanessa Parsons'(the name of the girl).The picture is again of Vanessa with her best friend Jenny who is mentioned in one of the answers below.It's a close up photo with the idea of showing their close relationship.Vanessa(on the left)is smiling again which links with the tag line 'The girl with the smile & voice.She has painted her face as this picture was taken on a costume party.This would appeal my target audience as it shows her wild personality.

This is another picture I've taken and decided to put in my contents page.It's a picture of the girl band 'Plastic Dreams' and it was taken on a party,which my magazine describes as 'the hottest party of the year'.The aim of this photo is to show that even though female bands are rare,they can show sexiness and can be icons,who other people look up to.The name 'Plastic Dreams' exposes that they are 'The Girls' and have 'The Power'.To support this they are all dressed in sexy outfits,have stylish haircuts and lots of make up.I have chosen those girls to be my models as they look exactly like a girl band.Most female bands,for example,have a Blondie,a poser and innocent one.They've also been friends for years and can be seen as the 'fantastic four'


This is a picture I took of Vanessa(on the left) and her friend Gloria on the right. This is one of the photos I have taken but decided not to use.It's a nice picture of my main model and both girls look gorgeous but the staging isn't considered enough.It also needs some editing such as cropping the girl on the left side as this can distract the viewer eye.


This is the first picture I took which is going to be for my front cover. I have chosen to put this picture as the model looks pretty and like most models on pop magazine covers - blond hair, lovely smile,etc. She wears light make up which makes her look younger and appeals to my target audience.I am going to change the background by editing the photo in Photoshop as one colour background looks better on a magazine cover. I have decided to follow the Rule of Thirds so the girl isn't right in the middle of the picture.

Fonts

I have used different fonts for the 3 different pages. For the title and some of the main sells on my front cover I have used 'Franklin Gothic Heavy' and 'Arial' font which fall into the Sans Serif Typeface category. Its role is to make the text eye-catching.
For my contents page I have used Sans Serif Typeface fonts except from the text under the picture of the girls band on the left side. Serif Typeface fonts have little lines on the top and bottom of the world and increase the readability of body copy( small texts and captions for photographs in this case).
For the double page spread I have used 'Trebuchet MS' font which is classified as Serif Typeface. It helps the reader follow the text without distractions as serifs function to draw the eye to the next letter of the world. The pull quote I have put on the second page of my double page spread is written in Sans Serif Typeface so it can catch the reader's attention who will then want to read the article.

Flat Plan Double Page Spread

This is the flat plan for my double page spread.It is going to be either an interview or an in-depth overview about the pop star Vanessa Parsons from the cover.The information is going to be about her life as she has just won the music show 'Music Idol' and now is going to make a career in the pop music industry. I am also going to include some pictures of Vanessa's life so I can introduce her to my audience.The information is going to be more like basic staff such as ' birthplace, favourite place to go on a holiday, favourite book';I will try to include some quotes from the performer so it can look more interesting and appealing.

The layout I'm going to use will be in a light colours as the rest of my magazine.Although I might put some dark colours so there can be a contrast and the page could look more eye-catching.I will stick to simple colours so the page doesn't look too obtrusive. Another thing I am going to do is to put the information and pictures in a 4 grid design.

The Display type such as the headings,subheading and pull quotes will be in a bigger and different font compared to the body type( the text of the article).