Post Production Feedback

Front Cover Feedback

Positive - I asked someone from my target audience about what they thought about my magazine front cover. My target audience said that my front cover stands outs to teenagers like her. Also another person from my target audience said that my cover lines make my magazine stand out and also the choice of picture.

Negative – The negative comments I received from my target audience was that, I should apply more colour on it, a number of my target audience said I should have done this. I should add more interesting cover lines on it.

Contents Page Feedback

Positive – Someone from my target audience said how they liked the conventions I used from an example of a real music magazine. They also liked the layout of my contents page.

Negative – The negative comments I received were that I could have enlarged my photo more. Also I could have applied more colours on my contents page and also more information.

Double Page Spread Feedback

Positive – A number of my target audience said that my double page spread is interesting and it catches their eyes. Also one of my target audience said they liked it because they like to read about people life and lifestyles. They also said my pictures are cool and different, because of the pictures I added at the top of the page.

Negative – I didn’t receive no negative feedback from my target audience about my double page spread, which was a surprise.

Publishing House - Condé Nast Publications

Condé Nast - http://condenast.co.uk/

Condé Nast is a magazine publisher, which is located in the US. Condé Nast also works internationally, which publish international editions of the US. They operate as a subsidiary; this division publishes more than 126 magazines and 104 websites and represents 24 markets worldwide. It is located in New York City, which was founded in 1909 by Condé Montrose Nast. It produces 18 consumer magazines, such as Architectural Digest, Bon Appétit, GO, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vogue.  They also do four business-to-business publications, 27 websites and 50+ apps for mobile and tablets devices.

They publish lifestyle magazine, which focus on a particular class. Their magazine focuses on a range of subjects such as travel, food, home, culture and other interest. But fashion has a larger portion of the company’s focus. The most popular magazines that Condé Nast focuses on are Brides, Condé Nast Contract Publishing, Condé Nast Traveller, Easy Living, Glamour, GQ, GQ Style, Johansens, Love, Tatler, Vanity Fair and Vogue. These magazines here focus mainly on lifestyle and fashion, which is a very popular subject in the media industry.

The type of audience that Condé Nast publications target is mostly females, because they are mostly into lifestyle and mainly fashion.  Women of the upper class and middle class in society are mainly targeted.

Unmanipulated Photos

I used this photo for my contents page, I chose this photo because I liked the pose of my model and also the lighting on her face, which gives a glow.

I used this photo as my front cover. Because I also liked my model pose, which would have looked interesting on my front cover.

I used this photo as the main image on my double page spread, because I also like my models pose and it suited the structure for my double page spread.

 These photos above were also used on my double page spread. I chose to use these pictures because I liked the different poses and positions of my model, and also the lighting on her face, which gave a glow.

These are a few examples of photos that I took, but didn't use. I didn't use them because I preferred the ones I chose because they were better and suited my front cover, contents page and double page spread.

Evaluation: Q7

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

I have learnt many new skills since doing my preliminary task of a college magazine, which helped during the process of completing my full product. I have learnt how to use the conventions of a real magazine, how to use Photoshop and also how to use a camera to take good quality images. When looking back to my preliminary task, it shows that I never really knew what conventions were and how to use them. But after researching conventions and magazines, I learnt how to use them to produce a professional magazine, better than what I produced in my preliminary task. I used the convention of a masthead and cover lines, like in a real magazine, but I never used it appropriately, so my magazine didn’t really look like much of a magazine.

Learning how to use Photoshop while constructing from my preliminary task to my full product, helped me to develop my music magazine. Photoshop helped me to develop a better quality magazine, because it made it look more professional. I was able to use the skills of Photoshop that I learnt to create my magazine, as before when doing my preliminary task, I had no skills of Photoshop, to produce a good college magazine.  On both my preliminary task and full product I made a front cover and contents page, but on my full product I created another page, which was a double page spread. So I was able to use my skills in Photoshop to work on a bigger canvas and produce a quality double page spread like in a normal magazine.

I managed my equipment by using whatever I had in my house, which would have been useful when taking my photos. I organized my human resources, which were the models involved in my magazine. I organized a day, where I spent all day concentrating on taking my photos for my magazine. I asked my models to dress in the appropriate way I needed them to dress. I also asked my models to practice poses, which they could use when I was taking photos of them.  Planning this was very useful because I was able to take the best photos the first time without having making mistakes and re-taking them again. This also helped minimize time, so I didn’t spend all day taking photos.

The creative decision that I made, mainly came from my target audience and examples of music magazine of the genre of music I chose. But most of my creative decision came from music magazine examples that I really liked. On the other hand, I did include some of my own decisions; making it different from the examples I based it off of. From my audience feedback, my target audience seemed very pleased with my full product, and gave me some good feedback. I didn’t really get any negative feedback, which I was surprised because, I thought my magazine was good but not perfect, so I was generally surprised about that. From all my pages, the front cover, contents page and double page spread.

I managed the location by using a location that is available to me, which was my living room. I chose not to use any props in my photos, because wanted to keep my photographs simple, so it would be easy for me to crop out to put on my magazine page canvas. Looking back to when I had to draft a design from hand of my front cover, contents page and double page spread, it really helped me out. Because it gave me a rough idea of how I was going to structure and layout my pages. So when it came down to me actually constructing my magazine, I knew what to do. My final outcome relates back to my layouts because I used some ideas such as the position of the masthead and image of the model. My contents page doesn’t relate back to my original layout, because they didn’t have any form of convention from a real music magazine. My double page spread also doesn’t relate back to my original layout, because my design also didn’t have any forms of convention from a real music magazine.

During the development of my preliminary task to my full product I have learnt how I can attract my target audience to my full product, which was something I wasn’t able to do in my preliminary task. Also how I can mainly focus my magazine on a particular age and social group.  Because my magazine had a particular audience, so I was able to focus my magazine more on that area of audience. As in my preliminary task, I had a wider audience, so I had to research into that specific audience and put a lot of thought into what I was going to put on my front cover and contents page.

Evaluation: Q6



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

To help me construct some things for my music magazine, I had to use a variety of technology to help put my magazine together and also make it look professional. I learnt how to use a few things, such as a Samsung Digimax S700 digital camera, to take my photos. I also used another camera called Fujifilm FinePix S3300 camera. Another thing I had to learn how to use was Adobe Photoshop CS5.

When taking my photos, I took them all in one location, which was in my house, in my living room. I wanted to keep all my photos the same, with the same white background and follow how a real magazine will take their photos, because they mostly take all their photos in the same location. To create my required effect and come out with good quality photos, I had to think about the lighting in the room, the flash on the camera, the position I placed my model and myself and also the equipments I used in order to make my photos come out professional. While I was using a Samsung Digimax S700 camera to take my photos, I found it easy to use and work with. I had no trouble with lighting because I used the available lighting in my front room, as my main light source.  On the camera I set flash as automatic, in case I needed it in some of my photos depending on the lighting in the environment.  But I also used flash in all the photos when taking them, because I was indoors. It was a good function that improved the quality of my photos. When using the Samsung Digimax S700 camera, the aperture was at f/2.8, which was a wide aperture shot, which lets in a lot of light because there was lighting in the environment. The shutter speed was 1/30 sec, which was a fast shutter speed. With a good aperture and shutter speed, my photos came out in good quality and looked professional in some ways. When using the Fujifilm FinePix S3300 camera, the aperture was at f/3.9, which was an average aperture shot and lets in some lighting, but not that much, because the lighting within the environment wasn’t that bright.  The shutter speed was also 1/30 sec. With these settings, my photos came out decent and in good quality. I focused all my photos so the model is the main thing that is in focus when taking my pictures, so I can get the best quality out of the photo as possible.

Also when taking my photos, the position of the model, the photographer, which was myself and the equipment that I used was important, because it helped me to take a good quality photo, to get the best effect. I placed my model behind my wallpaper, which was white and would be a good background for when I am taking my photos.  When taking the photos of my model I stood opposite her, around 5 steps away from each other. By standing 5 steps away from her, I was able to get good shots of her body while she was posing on the ground and also when taking a medium long shot of her, from her thighs to head. The equipment I used was a stand up fan, which blew my models hair while she was posing.  By doing this I was able to get some professional shots and quality standard shots from different angles, which gave me a variety of photos to choose from for my front cover and also double page spread. This created a good effect, because the fan blowing her hair takes away all the hair from her face, so I get a clear shot of her face and also it looked quiet professional.

Another technique I learnt from using Photoshop was, the drop shadow tool, which made my text stand out, by adding a shadow behind the text, giving it a good effect. Even though this tool wasn’t so hard to use, it was hard for me to find the size for my drop shadow, because if it was too big, it could ruin the effect of the text, making it look less professional. But finding the right size for the drop shadow, it gave me text a professional look to it, making it look more of a magazine.



Lastly a technique I also learnt and found it very useful, was the grid, which shows boxes in a grid form, which helped me when aliening my photos and text straight and equally. This gave me affect of making my article and images look professional and also realistic, because everything is straight and in the right position.  Also the guide was very useful because it helped me to find where the middle of my double page spread, so I know where I can place and structure my images and text.

I also learnt how to change my images into a JPEG file, because I found out that I needed my image to be a JPEG file before I can upload it to blogger. This technique was also useful and effective, because I was able to upload my magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread to Facebook, so I can get some feedback on my magazine, without having any difficulties, with the type of file it was and also lose its good quality.

Evaluation: Q5

5.How did you attract/address your audience?

I used my audience research as my guideline to find ways that I could attract my target audience in many different forms. One way I attracted my target audience is through my front cover, which is an important part of my magazine overall, which will determine if my target audience will read or buy my music magazine. One way that I felt that attracted my target audience from my front cover is my model, by choosing a model around the same age of my target audience is a big advantage because my target audience will be able to relate themselves to my model. Also by having an attractive female model, which is another advantage, which will help attract my target audience more. The clothes that the model is wearing represent a popular style, which some R&B celebrities’ wear, which is simple with no brand.

The other way I attracted my target audience is by focusing mainly on popular R&B/Hip Hop/Rap music artist; because this is what my target audience liked and would like to hear about in music magazines. This was done through my cover lines. The well known names that I used in my magazine attract my target audience, because these were the people that they said they liked, when I was researching about my target audience. I also spoke about issues, that could appeal to the both the male and female audience, for example “HOT NEW TRENDS, FOR THE WINTER SEASON”, I chose to write this cover line, because I knew that fashion is a big part in teenagers lives, as styles come and go, from season to season, I felt that mentioning something about fashion will attract them more. Another cover line, which I thought was a good way to attract my target audience, was “TOP 20 PLAYLIST OF 2011”. I decided this because its way of keeping my audience up to date with the latest songs of the year, knowing that they are not missing out on anything, which keeps my audience reassured.

Mainly through my magazine I used a variety of san serif fonts, which gave my magazine a modern and stylish look. The idea of using san serif fonts would attract my target audience, because when researching other music magazines of the genre of music I liked, they mostly used san serif font throughout. I downloaded a san serif font from dafont.com, which was called American Purpose, which I used for my masthead and contents page title. This will make my magazine unique and more recognisable for my target audience, which I wanted my magazine to be. Also the name of my magazine was another way to attract my audience, because it is different from others. It doesn’t clearly state that it is a music magazine, but my magazine name portrays my magazine to be about entertainment, e.g. music, movies, everything that the media portrays as entertainment and how it is seen.

I attracted and addressed my target audience by the language I used. I mainly used Standard English and not many slang, which is popular with the teenagers. I chose to use Standard English instead of slang because I wanted my magazine to attract not just the younger audience but also the older audience, like the young adults. I wanted the older readers to feel that they can read my magazine without feeling confused about what some words mean. So Standard English was a way to can relate to both the younger audience and older audience.  

My contents page is set out in a neat, organised and simple structure, so my target audience doesn’t feel lost or confused when reading and trying to find certain pages. I set my writing in a vertical way, so as my target audience is reading, they can continue with reading in the same direction, when reading about something new, this way will keep them focused and in line.

On my double page spread, I attracted my target audience by adding a variety of more images of the model on my front page, because she was the main article, which I was going to feature in my double page spread.  The images will attract my target audience, because it is different from what they would see on my front cover. It would keep them interested in the model I am talking about, and they get to see her in a different form, for example clothing, she wears something different on my double page spread than on my front cover. I set out my double page spread article in a form of an interview. I chose to write an interview for my article is because I wanted my target audience to know a bit more about the model on my front cover, which I could see from my target audience research, they liked reading about their favorite artist and other artists lifestyle and biography.

I decided to make one of my cover lines in colour, which clearly shows that it is the main cover line, because it needed to stand out from the rest, giving a message to my target audience that it is my main cover line.  By adding colour, it’s eye-catching and attractive for my audience, which will make it noticeable for my audience.

Evaluation: Q4

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

In my audience research, it shows that my music magazine targets 14-19 year olds, both male and females. Because the artists I speak about and topics that my magazine discusses are very popular to the younger audience mainly teenagers of a worldwide audience. R&B, Hip Hop and Rap is listened to all over the world in economic countries, such as USA, UK and Europe.

I decided to mainly target a teenage audience both male and females, because the model featured on my front cover is a teenage girl, who will relate to other teenagers her age or around her age group. Also the topics discussed in my magazine appeal to mostly teenagers because they are mostly interested in top music artists such as Drake and Nicki Minaj, Lil Wayne, Jessie J and many more, because their music, personal life and life style interest teenagers.  These artist influence a lot of people, mainly teenagers and young adults, because their music helps inspire wannabe singers and people who desperately want to get into the music business.

Artists like Jessie J, Tyga and Bruno Mars, are not Black African Americans but they still portray R&B, Hip Hop music as a black artist would, like Rihanna for example.  They are from countries like England, Hawaii, Jamaica and Vietnam.  These artists inspire teenagers worldwide who are from countries like them or others, to get into the music industry and become successful as them, without having their nationality being a disadvantage. Therefore the main reason why I included artist like the ones in the pictures above to my magazine are so that I can portray the message what my magazine is trying to get across.

R&B, Hip Hop and Rap is mainly associated with black people, mostly African Americans. My magazine relates to all races, from around the world and targets both male and females.  Because people of the 20^th century mainly listen to R&B, Hip Hop and Rap music and that industry now involves people with different ethnicities that produces good music and I wanted my magazine to portray that and show my target audience that my music magazine is open to anyone to read. I want a variety of people to read my music magazine, without having to leave people out who maybe don’t like this type of genre of music, but still like listening to it.

Evaluation: Q3

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

Referring back to my case study of a publishing company, I planned and researched and considered Condé Nast Publication as my publisher and distributor for my music magazine. Condé Nast is popular US publisher which publishes a range of magazines which main subjects are travel, food, home, culture, and other interests, with fashion the larger portion of the company's focus. There is different reason why I chose this publishing company, one of the reasons is that Condé Nast don’t publish music magazines, they normally publish lifestyle magazines. So my magazine will be something new that they can consider trying and maybe becoming successful in the future and start publishing more music magazines. Condé Nast publishes high tech fashion magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue, which are very popular with fashion lovers and classy/wealthy people. Even though my magazines main focus is music, fashion, but mainly urban fashion is also one of the main focuses in R&B, Hip Hop and Rap music, which is suitable for Condé Nast. Magazines that Condé Nast publishes target wealthy audience, but my magazine targets a younger audience. Therefore by including my magazine it would expand the company.

By Condé Nast publishing and distributing my magazine, there company would benefit financially because as you know they don’t really publish magazines like mine and also don’t target an audience that my magazine targets. There profits will increase because there isn’t any competition within the company. They would also gain popularity from a younger audience and maybe an older audience, because my magazine is new to their company. This would benefit to Condé Nast company finically because advertisement would increase my magazine will target a larger and wider audience other than the magazines that Condé Nast publishes. This would increase profit which will make the company popular and easy to recognise to audiences, so that they can associate it with my magazine.

I would distribute my magazine in music shops like HMV and retail shops like WHSmith, but also in news agents. I chose the music shop like HMW because it is very popular to people all ages and they mainly focus on things that’s got to do with music, e.g. CDs and magazines.  It is one of the biggest music stores in UK. As it is popular to music lovers it makes sense to distribute my magazine in their stores. Distributing my magazine in retail stores such as WHSmith, my magazine will be easy to access and purchase because WHSmith is located all over the country, also in news agents and corner shops around schools and colleges, because these shops are popular with young teenagers.  I would also distribute my magazine in youth centres because since my target audience is young teenagers, I could sell my magazine in a location where they are mostly at, which will attract their attention, because my magazine is sold within their environment.

Evaluation: Q2

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

The genre of my music magazine is R&B, Hip Hop and Rap, for both male and females. The images I have in my magazine represents the genre of music my magazine is about. My model on my front cover, clearly represent the style fashion that a lot of R&B females where as causal wear. R&B, Hip Hop and Rap attracts a lot of teenagers and young adults, because of the style of music they do. Also the images of artistes that are associated with these types of genres are modern, attractive and influencing to their listeners.

The reason I chose this girl on my front cover to be my model because for my main cover line, I talk about an Asian singer and I happened to have an Asian friend that was attractive. My model is wearing a dark long cardigan, which was navy blue, with a plain white vest top, which showed some of her cleavage. On her bottom half she wore acid wash jeans, which were different shades of blue and black Dr Marten boots as her footwear. My model looks has a ‘Girl Next Door’ look, because every thing she is wearing and including her hair is casual. I chose this look because female artist such as Rihanna and Beyoncé actually wear this type of wear on a casual day out, which isn’t too dressed up or dressed down. I made my model show some cleavage because it attracts some of the male attention, without needing to wear a short dress to look sexy. Also the clothes that she is wearing s fashionable and trendy to the young generations, which shows that they can relate to female artist of the 20^th century.  I chose my artist to do that pose because it’s very simple and laid back. It shows that the model, who is meant to be a music artist, is friendly and approachable. I named my model Yasmin Sewell because Yasmin was my models actual name and Sewell is the surname from another friend. I chose these names because they were simple and modern and also sounded realistic and no one else has that name.

I chose a different model for my image on my contents page because I talk about other artist other than the main artist Yasmin Sewell. My model on my contents page is wearing a leather jacket with studs on the shoulder, with a striped black and grey vest top. This look is edgy and different, instead of a sexy look; my model has more of a rock look, which represents what kind of music my model is aiming to show.  Her hair is slicked up with a little fringe hanging from one side of her head. This trend is very popular with teenage girls, because it is basic and also stylish. She’s wearing a silver and gold chain, which completes the look.

My model done this pose because, people would expect a rock artist to look antisocial, angry and no happy emotions. But I wanted my model to smile to show that even though she is a rock artist, her personality is different from what people stereotype it to be. Her name Cherhys Whyte is actually the models name, so I decided to stick with it.



The model on my double page spread is the same girl on my front cover. I had to talk about the same girl that I talked about on my double page spread, because she was the main cover line story. Instead I gave her a new look, something different from what she looked like on my front cover. For the main image on my double page spread she is wearing a black and white jumper and plain navy jeans. The clothes she is wearing is simple and also very casual like in my front cover. Instead of her hair down, she has her hair slicked up neatly into a big bun, with make up on her face. I made my model go for this kind of look because I wanted something different than what was on my front cover.  This look is casual and very simple, which a lot of teenage girls dress like. Also quite a few celebrities such as Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez do this hair style, because it is very simple and stylish at the same time.

The pose that my model is doing is very simple and straight forward. I didn’t want my model to pose in this photo because I preferred it to look simple, so the other images of my model, which is at the top of my double page spread is more appealing and interesting. Her pose shows that she can be a serious girl and not just your ‘Girl Next Door’ type of girl.

The other images on my double page spread; my model is doing a number of different posses. In these photos she is wearing the same clothing like seen on the image on my front cover. The different posse that she is doing shows the different personalities that she has. It shows that she can be sexy, fun, happy and seductive. I used these conventions from the Vibe magazine double page spread, but with different posses that I think suits my model better.

Evaluation: Q1

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

At the beginning of my project, I had to find and analyze music magazines and see how they are shown and what conventions they used to get the attention of their target audience. My magazine uses many forms of conventions of a real music magazine. I used conventions in my magazine to follow a real music magazine, to make my magazine look more realistic and professional. An example of a convention that I used, that is shown in most music magazine, was a large masthead, which is shown at the top of the magazine. I followed this convention because I wanted my magazine to follow the same convention as a real music magazine.  Also the masthead is one of the main conventions on a music magazine, because it’s meant to stand out from the cover of the magazine, so the target audience knows that it is the name of the magazine. I downloaded a font from dafont.com, so my font stands out from my magazine front cover. I had done this because I wanted my magazine to automatically catch my target audience’s attention, as it is large masthead, it should surely stand out from my front cover. To adapt my masthead and slightly change the convention, I continued part of the name of my magazine underneath the first word, but in a smaller font size so my masthead doesn’t take up most of the space on my front cover. I done this because I wanted my masthead to be a little different from the convention I followed in a music magazine I chose. I used a san serif font, I used it because it a more modern type of font, so it makes my magazine look more modern and stylish, which is suitable for my target audience. I used another convention which is popular in most music magazine, which was putting my masthead behind my model. I done this because I wanted the picture of the model to stand out more from the masthead, making it look more professional and appealing.  I also used another convention from the music magazine I chose, which was a skyline, which is located above the masthead. I chose to use this convention because a lot of music magazine uses this type of convention, which tells my target audience what to look forward inside my magazine.

Also, by following the conventions of a real music magazine, I included a barcode and dateline. In most music magazine, the dateline is usually shown underneath the barcode, but instead I placed in within my masthead.  I did this instead because I wanted my masthead to be remembered and different from others.



 

I had to use cover lines, which was another convention that is used in real music magazines.  The cover lines gives my target audience an idea of what is going be inside my magazine. They attract my target audience because they are short, bold and in color, which is eye catching. I used the same font for all my cover lines. My main cover line and image, tells my target audience that it is the main selling point of my magazine, therefore it had to be different and stand out from the others. Also in most music magazines the cover lines are arranged vertically, either on the left or the right. I placed my cover lines both on the left and the right, because I wanted to space out the text and try not leaving a lot of blank spaces. Also I didn’t want the cover lines to take up most of the attention from the images.

A popular convention that is used in a real music magazine is a medium close image, which is the main image of the front cover. On my magazine instead of using a medium close up image I used a medium long shot, which shows my models whole body and pose. It makes the image more interesting and different compared to other music magazine. Also the pose that my model is doing, draws the attention of my target audience more, because it is different.

Another convention that I used from a real music magazine is the use of popular celebrities name above the masthead. I also placed a variety of R&B, Hip Hop and Rap artist above my masthead.  This shows that my magazine talks a variety of music artist from different genres of music, which keeps my target audience interested in my magazine.

For my contents page, I also followed the conventions that are used in a real music magazine, but I also slighted developed these idea’s into my own. I added an image which is clearly always used in a real music magazine contents page. This demonstrates what will be written in my magazine. Instead I added an image of another model to show what else will be seen in my magazine, not just my model which is shown on my magazine front cover, this shows that I have more to talk about in my magazine instead of one main topic.

On my contents page I included categories, this convention is another popular one, which most music magazines use to organize their information, so everything is not all over the place.  To develop my idea even more I placed the categories on both sides of my contents page and included an image behind one of the categories, which related to the image.

For my double page spread, I followed the same conventions of a real music magazine and developed it into my own style. I chose to use a simple colour scheme, different from my front cover and contents page. It shows a more up-to-date look and looks realistic. I arranged my information into two columns and a stand first, but I didn’t use any headings, because I followed the conventions from the double page spread magazine example. I decided not to add another column because I didn’t want my double page spread to be taken up most by text. I did this because I didn’t want my target audience to be put off from reading the article because of the amount of text.