In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My front cover has the same conventions as many of the front pages of real music magazines as I thought that the way most of them were laid out was very organised and had a very professional feel. I used a colour scheme, which were purple, aqua, black and red, as many magazines have colours in which they stick to, to keep it from looking busy.
In my research (shown below) and in my final pieces, it is clear what elements that I have used – such as my cover story photo overlapping the masthead of Recharged!. I have used Kerrang! Magazine as my main source of inspiration as I buy their magazine regularly and enjoy the
stories and the layout. I used the magazines Kerrang! (www.kerrang.com), NME (www.nme.com) and Alternative Press (www.altpress.com). I used various conventions such as the banners along the top and bottom, stating what/who is within the magazine, having the picture of the main focus of the magazine in the middle of the page and having the title of the magazine at the top (and in contrasting colours).
- to see more of the conventions of Kerrang magazine and Alternative Press, look at my research blog :)
My front cover has the same conventions as many of the front pages of real music magazines as I thought that the way most of them were laid out was very organised and had a very professional feel. I used a colour scheme, which were purple, aqua, black and red, as many magazines have colours in which they stick to, to keep it from looking busy.
In my research (shown below) and in my final pieces, it is clear what elements that I have used – such as my cover story photo overlapping the masthead of Recharged!. I have used Kerrang! Magazine as my main source of inspiration as I buy their magazine regularly and enjoy the
stories and the layout. I used the magazines Kerrang! (www.kerrang.com), NME (www.nme.com) and Alternative Press (www.altpress.com). I used various conventions such as the banners along the top and bottom, stating what/who is within the magazine, having the picture of the main focus of the magazine in the middle of the page and having the title of the magazine at the top (and in contrasting colours).
- to see more of the conventions of Kerrang magazine and Alternative Press, look at my research blog :)
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I have represented the Alternative/Rock area of music, as I have used bands that are on this particular scene and I enjoy listening to, such as; My Chemical Romance (http://www.mychemicalromance.com/) Paramore (http://www.paramore.net/), Bring Me the Horizon (www.myspace.com/bmth) and A Rocket to the Moon (http://www.arockettothemoon.net/). I have represented this social group by adding these bands to my music cover and by using my ‘made up’ cover story
For the picture editing itself, I decided to make for a desaturated feel and have the colours quite dull, and for the editing to have quite a 'milky' feel. I had to make sure that all my pictures had the same editing and colouring to keep it looking consistent and professional.
I have represented the Alternative/Rock area of music, as I have used bands that are on this particular scene and I enjoy listening to, such as; My Chemical Romance (http://www.mychemicalromance.com/) Paramore (http://www.paramore.net/), Bring Me the Horizon (www.myspace.com/bmth) and A Rocket to the Moon (http://www.arockettothemoon.net/). I have represented this social group by adding these bands to my music cover and by using my ‘made up’ cover story
What kind of media institution might distribute your media products and why?
Bauer Media Group owns Kerrang! as well as Q Magazine and many more brands. (http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/Brands) Bauer Media branch out into many types of magazine and local radio and so I believe that my magazine would fit in with their Entertainment section. However, it is very similar to Kerrang! So perhaps a more female orientated magazine would be beneficial, as there are not any predominately female based rock music magazines on the market. Having a female based magazine would reach further out into the audience and will perhaps make females more comfortable with buying rock/metal music magazines, without a fear of looking masculine!
Who would be the audience for your media product? Teenage/young adults would be my audience. Male or female audiences would be attracted to the magazine as music is universal and the layout of my magazine is unisex.
Who would be the audience for your media product? Teenage/young adults would be my audience. Male or female audiences would be attracted to the magazine as music is universal and the layout of my magazine is unisex.
How did you attract/address your audience?I used examples of double page spreads, front covers and contents from others to mold mine - as shown in my development. I also did a survey and it was shown that 7/10 people liked the way I had made my front cover and they would be attracted to it. The other 3 people said that it looked a bit too organised and conformed.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I'll get the links out the way first...
Fonts used:
http://www.dafont.com/capture-it.font - Sub-headings
http://www.dafont.com/desperado.font - Logo
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?I'll get the links out the way first...
Fonts used:
http://www.dafont.com/capture-it.font - Sub-headings
http://www.dafont.com/desperado.font - Logo
http://www.psd.fanextra.com/tutorials/designing/design-a-grungy-floating-island - I used this as the base for my background on one of my double page spreads as well as using it for my final contents page.
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| I used Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 to edit all of my photos and arrange my magazine. |
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| I used my own digital camera, the Kodak EasyShare M530 |
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
To see my full development, see my earlier blog, called Development (funnily enough! :P) This task gave me a chance to develop my skills in Photoshop and allowed me to experiment with colours, layouts and photo-manipulation. This looks much more professional than my preliminary task and I am proud of the way I made this look like something you would take off the shelf.
I have enjoyed this task as I love using Photoshop and experimenting with it. It has given me a chance to show off my skills and develop more as a designer as I have done much research and have realised that designing a magazine requires a lot of thought and care - it is something I hope to do more of in the future. :)
To see my full development, see my earlier blog, called Development (funnily enough! :P) This task gave me a chance to develop my skills in Photoshop and allowed me to experiment with colours, layouts and photo-manipulation. This looks much more professional than my preliminary task and I am proud of the way I made this look like something you would take off the shelf.
I have enjoyed this task as I love using Photoshop and experimenting with it. It has given me a chance to show off my skills and develop more as a designer as I have done much research and have realised that designing a magazine requires a lot of thought and care - it is something I hope to do more of in the future. :)
