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

Question 1

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I have chosen not to challenge the conventions of magazine production because by choosing to follow the conventions I have recognised that the readers of the magazine have come to expect a certain style from magazines. I thought that if my magazine went against these conventions it wouldnt have sold well because people arent used to that style, the whole purpose of creating a magazine is to sell the product and make money and I feel a magazine that follows the conventions and lives up to the readers expectations and therefore makes more money.

2. How does yopur media product represent particular social groups?

I think this front cover image from NME magazine slightly resembles this picture that I have chosen to use for my contents page.

The first obvious similarity between the two pictures is the shot type, they're both up close, head and shoulders shots.

Another similarity is the posture of the two models, they're both very relaxed and laid back, both are wearing very casual, average clothing and aren't dressed up in any way.

Both models have very plain and natural facial expressions, and don't appear to be playing up to the camera in any way, neither models are looking directly down the camera, they are both looking to the right, with their heads just facing forwards.

The hairstyles of the models are quite similar, in that they are messy and completely natural looking.

The angle of both pictures seems to be quite similar, they both seem to be simple head on pictures.

The main difference between the pictures is the fact that my picture has a background, I feel this makes it look a little bit more interesting than just having the plain white background.

I feel that both photos look like they would appeal to an alternative audience, rather than a pop, or R&B, they are visibly more rock or indie, and this is the audience I would like to attract to my magazine.

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

Question 3

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I think this picture sums up the perfect target audience for my magazine, she's very stylish and has a fairly unique dress sense. She's in her late teens or early twenties and looks to be interested in 'indie' style music.

This picture sums up the style of clothing that my target audience would be wearing, the clothing is from Topshop and I think this is where they would be likely to shop.

I think the typical type of music listened to by the audience of my magazine would be 'indie' or rock music, for example The Libertines.

I think that the type of programmes that would appeal to the audience of my magazine, would be Skins, or The Inbetweeners, as these are both cool, stylish teen dramas.

Magazines have to have this target audience in order for them to attract the right advertisers, if a magazine doesnt have a direct audience, an advertiser wouldn't be interested in working with the magazine because they wouldnt know whether they were hitting their target audience or whether it was being advertised to people who arent interested in their product. As a lot of magazines make most of their money through advertising it is important that they have a certain demographic to interest advertisers.

Project Phoenix

Project phoenix is Bauer media's research into the world of music magazine audiences.

They segmented the readers of magazines into four groups based on how they feel about music;

Background listeners (39% of the 16-45 age range) these like music to be a background to their lives, and listen to it regularly when doing other things, they are not completely obsessed with music. The Headliners, (20% of 16-45) are not as interested in music, listening to mainstreem and shart music. Track Hunters ~(24% of 16-45) like finding new bands, mostly female and like attending new gigs. Pace Setters (17% of 16-45) they are different to mainstreem and have a passion for music, have an obsessional interest in music. The group I think my magazine is aimed at is the Track Hunters, the music is not mainstreem and yet is not completely new.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

Question 5

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

Question 6

I feel that technologies have allowed me to create a better quality magazine and to do this quicker and easier. For example, when researching my magazine I simply had to use the internet to get up some pictures and use them to guide me in making my magazine, in earlier times it would have meant me going out and buying a magazine to do this research. Again with the pictures, I could see them on the camera and choose whether to delete them or not, and I didnt have to wait to have them developed etc they could just be uploaded straight to the computer. As a result of this I feel that technologies have helped me to make my magazine a lot faster and with a far more professional look than it would have without this use of technology.

7. Looking back at your pleriminary tast (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Comparing my preliminary work to my final piece I feel I have progressed greatly.I feel the photographs are of a higher quality, they are more professional looking and the models have an attitude and look like they belong on the cover of the magazine.

The fonts I used on my final product were all from the website 'da font' I spent a lot of time looking for the right ones because, I found that the font on the cover is very important, as you can see the font on my prelim is very plain and I knew that to make it look more professional I would have to improve the fonts which I think I did well.

The contents page is a lot more professional on my final piece, the piece on my prelim was very sparse it helped me to realise that the contents page should be full of information and colour rather than just the plain colour and background on my prelim. I feel in this way I have progressed.

With the prelim, I had very little knowledge of photoshop and so it helped me to get used to the programme and I feel my progress is apparrent in the improvement from the prelim to the final product.

Double Page Progress

Double page Process

Double Page Research

Before creating my own double page, I researched some previous NME double pages to get some ideas in order to get my magazine looking professional. The title text on the second page is very attention grabbing and appealing and so I would like to find a font similar to this for my own piece. However the text runs accross two pages which is a non-standard feature of most magazines, the photo takes up a full page and the actual article is only short. I am going to try to emulate the style of the first picture for my own article, I like the column on the right which breaks up the rest of the font. The piece has a box in the top left hand corner which indicates what the article is about and the colour is consistent throughout. The title is smaller than the second article and it has a pull out quote in the middle of the text rather than just using a quote as a title. This again breaks up the text. These are all qualities I would like my own double page to have.

Final Contents Page

This is my final contents page. The colours match those on the cover of my magazine, red white and black and it is structured in a clear way. Like the NME contents pages I looked at, I kept the images in the centre of the page and the text in set blocks around it, I used the same font; Myriad Pro, for all the text on this page, other than the TMN logo. I chose to have a black border around the images to give them a set place on the magazine, in order for them to look like they belong there. I chose to have the numbers of the pages a different colour to the topic of the article so they stand out and are clear. The headings can be seen instantly when opening the contents page and so readers know exactly where to look to find what they want to read. I used bold text to accompany the pictures, again to make it stand out.

Creating The Contents Page

Here are the stages of creating my contents page.

1. I started with the heading, then added the pictures into the centre of the page in the style of the NME contents pages I looked at.

2. I then set out the boxes, I used red and black in order to follow the colour scheme. I added the text into the black box, I used Myriad pro in regular font size 14, I kept it all in block capitals so the titles were clear.

3.The next step was to insert the text for the main article I again used the font Myriad Pro, size 23, I used the same font because I wanted to keep it consistent throughout the page.

4. I then added the text in the columns, I chose white text to go into the red column and black to go onto the white background, because I feel these stand out, I used block capitals again for the text on the right. I added a subscriptions box at the bottom of the page, just like NME has, I used yellow to make it stand out from the fonts on the rest of the page.

Creating The Contents Page - Heading

To create the heading for my contents page, I used the TMN heading from my front cover in order to keep it consistent throughout. I then put a black bar accross the bottom of the title and added the date, I think the black bar keeps the title seperate from the rest of the page as well as making it stand out.

Contents Page Research

I chose to use this style of NME contents page to base my own contents page on. I think it is set out well and clear. I like the colour scheme as it it quite simple but also looks appealing and easy to use as it has headings to direct the reader where to go for what they want to read. Also it has a band index at the side to let the reader know exactly what bands are inside this weeks issue. The main article of the magazine is in the centre of the page and is accompanied by a large photo along with bold writing.

Final Front Cover

This is my finished front cover, I have used a colour scheme throughout of red, black and white. I gave some of the text a black background to add some bold colour into the magazine and to compliment the the black writing of 'exclusive'. I created the red circle in the corner again in order to add colour and match the red of 'TMN' I then used bold writing inside the circle to make the information inside stand out. I used different sixed fonts so that some stand out more than others and also to prevent it getting boring and looking too bland. I added a barcode as a finishing touch in order to make my magazine cover look more professional

Front cover

This is the basic outline of my magazine, for the main story I have chosen the font coolvetica regular, I added a drop shadow and embossed it to make it stand out, I also made the font large so the main article of the magazine stood out amongst the others. I used the font 'illuminate' for the 'exclusive' because it completely contrasts with the other fonts on the page and again stands out against the white background. I chose to have a black bar across the bottom of the page to contrast the white backgroung and to match the 'exclusive' and 'TMN' colours.

Front Cover

I Put the TMN logo over the picture to the left hand side. If the picture hadnt been flipped over the heading would have been a lot smaller in order for it to have fitted on without covering too much of the face. Although the heading does still overlap the picture it isn't affecting the face or any main feature in the photo and some magazines do have the heading over the photo. I think it is better for my magazine to have the heading in front of the photo rather than behind because as it it only three letters long it would be hard to tell the name of the magazine if one of those letters was hidden behind the photograph.

Front Cover Image

This is Esther, the model I will be using for the front cover of my magazine. I feel she has the style of an artist that would generally appeal to the audience of my magazine and is similar to the style of artists such as Lilly Allen or Kate Nash who have both appeared in NME.

In order to fit the title onto the left hand side of the magazine I flipped the image over, creating more room. I then adjusted the contrast of the image so that the colours were bolder and the foreground picture stood out better from the background. I feel the adjustments made to the picture made it look like it belongs on the cover of a magazine as it looks bright, colourful and professional.

Creating The Name

Having decided upon the name TMN for my magazine I then set about looking for a font to use for the cover of the magazine.

I looked on 'Da font' for a font that was quite square and defined and I chose to use the font 'Megatron'. I saved it into my documents and opened it up before then opening it up on photoshop.

I decided to use the colour red for the name to replicate the style of NME magazine and gave it a black drop shadow to add depth to the writing and make it look more appealing.

To make it clear what TMN stands for I put the meaning underneath the letters in small text and made it white to stand out against the red.

This is my final title for TMN magazine.

Magazine Names

In order to find the best name for my magazine I created a mind map to compare the various names that I came up with and decide which is the best for my magazine based on it's genre. In the end I decided that the most striking name for my magazine was TMN, as it wasn't too long, wouldn't take up too much space on the contents page and was quite catchy. Also with it being just three letters I felt that it was similar to NME upon which I based my magazine and so I thought this was appropriate.

Questionnaire Results

This pie chart shows that the main audience of my magazine would be 17-24 and so I will create my magazine for this age range. To do this i will include bands and artists that I feel are appropriate for this audience. I will also set out the magazine in a way that will attract the audience, most importantly the front cover.