Question 7

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

        

During the course of creating my preliminary task and my main task I have gained a lot of skills that are very noticeable when I have reflected back and compared the two pieces. My photoshop skills have improved incredibly, for example when you look at the Preliminary Task Front Cover in comparison to the Main Task Front Cover you can see that the main task front cover has lots more editing. The way I have changed the back ground colour and put two photos on top of each other allowing me to create a very unique effect is something I wouldn't have been able to create when making my preliminary task due to my lack of technique and practice. 

Moreover, during the research process before making my Main Task, I looked into the terms and conventions that make up a magazine, therefore when it came to laying out my magazine and adding my Masthead, Price and Date etc, I knew what the bare necessities needed to be in order for my magazine to look like a real media product and have a professional look to it, which would mean it would be able to compete with other magazines that have been out longer. Whereas when I came to do my Preliminary task I was given less opportunity to look at real magazines and time to research, hence it does not look as much like a real magazine. 

When thinking about images for my first task I went out and took photos on a smart phone, even though this gives a very clear image, I wasn't sure what types of images I should be taking and considering where each one I had taken would fit in my magazine. Which is why, when I came to take photos for my Main Task, even though I was using a digital camera rather than a mobile phone which helps a lot, I still found the whole process a lot easier because as I was going along I was thinking of what photos would look best in my magazine using the knowledge I learned when I was researching this tome around. For example, where my model needs to stand, what background I would like to use and what instruments I would like to include depending on my theme of music and target market for the magazine.

On reflection, I feel the whole experience has been an incredible journey, one in which I have been able to really focus on improving my media skills and successful use of the different technologies and how these skills can be used to create a magazine that is aimed at my target audience and using techniques that would make them want to buy it. I can also see the improvements I have made from comparing both tasks and how simple changes such as how a magazine is laid out has enabled me to develop my techniques.

Question 6

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

Digital Camera

All of the photos that are featured in my music magazine I took myself using a digital camera. Digital cameras have become so advanced that professional looking photos can be taken with ease. The upside to taking photos on a digital camera is that you can see them instantly so it made it easier for me assess if the photos I had been taking were up to a good enough standard to feature in my magazine. It is also good having all the photos stored in one place so that when coming to upload them to a computer it was a simple process. 

Scanner 

I used the scanner to scan my sketched drafts of the magazine which I had edited to add various conventions of real media products. This was a good idea, as it shows how I developed from my original sketches to the final piece. Also it was a lot quicker to draw the drafts by hand over having to create it on the computer. 

It was extremely handy to have the drafts saved on my computer after scanning them in, so that I could refer back to them and then put them on my blog. This giving me the chance to go back and reflect on what I had done.

Photoshop 

Using photoshop I edited all of my photos and used it to create all my pages for my whole magazine. I could have easily used another programme e.g. Publisher, however was convenient as it meant I could edit it as I went along. It was extremely useful using photoshop to edit my photos as it allowed me to create the same effect on all of the photos and pages, so that there is a good house style and the reader will feel comfortable with the layout. For example throughout the whole magazine many pictures have either been filtered or overlapped so that you can see two giving off a very nice effect. 

Internet Explorer

I mainly used the Internet for research such as;

• Looking up statistics- this way I found out what sells well in the magazine industry 
• Finding out about my target market- what they are interested in 
• Forms and Conventions- this way I made sure that my magazine confided to the majority of them, so that it looks like a high quality one. Also so that I could challenge them and develop them to give my magazine an edge to all the others 
• Analyse other magazines online 

Question 5

Question 4

Question 3

Question 2

Question 1

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

MAGAZINE CONVENTIONS 

FRONT COVER

Masthead and Main Image

Because of the type of magazine and its target audience, my front cover, whilst sticking to many of the conventions of a front cover, such as displaying the date, cost and barcode, tried to challenge these convention at every opportunity. This reflects the need for expression and uniqueness within the target audience. 

For example, the Masthead had the name 'Eclipse' written twice and overlapping in the colours in blue and pink. This is not only stylish but is very original- and stands out from the other magazine mastheads that I looked at which usually are just a block colour. This was done so that the target audience when in a shop would instantly recognise it and if they have never bought it before, would see that it was unique. 

The main image has the same theme. It has two transparent images of the same person. Neither of the images is directly looking at the reader. This was also done deliberately. Most magazines not just music ones but also mainstream fashion magazines have a model/ celebrity on the front cover smiling or looking at the camera. My magazine wanted to offer its target audience a different style of cover to reflect its different contents compared to the more mainstream fashion magazines. 

The masthead helped to create this impression and I deliberately made it lower than other magazines which have the model in front of the masthead. My model's face was obstructed by the masthead so that people would know that the magazine is not just all about the person on the front cover and that the focus of the magazine is not about what your face or body looks like, but how you express yourself through your music and fashion. 

Website

I did not put any details of a website on my magazine cover I did not think a website was necessary, as there are easier and quicker ways of interacting with the readers, for example Instagram and Keek. These things are much more interactive and personal than websites and readers can feel like 'friends' of the magazine on these media products. 

CONTENTS PAGE

I edited the pictures on the contents page with a filter to tie in with the Instagram feel. This gives a theme to the brand of the magazine and keeps the magazine current and on trend. Also it gives the feel that it made by people who are into the same things as the target audience. 

These things help the magazine to have a personal feel and makes the reader think that they are connected to the magazine and 'friends' with it. This increases the chance of reader loyalty. 

The contents page is the same colour as the front page. This is the house style colour and is used in the whole magazine. I did this to make sure that some things were continuous throughout the whole magazine. So even if the reader did not see the front page of Eclipse they could open it anywhere and instantly know what magazine it was. 

DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD

The double page spread is an interview with Amelia James, the lead singer of an upcoming synthpop band. The language used in the double page spread is laid back and relaxed. This shows that the girl interviewed is down to earth and relatable. She is talking about tattoos and piercings something that the target audience would like to hear about. The questions that I asked her were not generic like in other magazines like "when is the new album out" as fans will probably already know this, or " what's next for you in the future?" as these are not the things that the reader wants to know about. The reader wants to know about real and personal things that they may not already know about. Also I didn't use words like "bootilicious", "swag" and "hip hop royalty" in contrast to the magazines the we wanted to be different to. Words like these often appear in magazines aimed at females only and my target is male and female. Also these words are quite outdated and not really used by the types of groups my magazine is aimed at.  

The main image of this page is in the same style of the front cover. Also it is taken against a brick wall background not in a photo studio and not airbrushed, to show fit the theme of the magazine. The same colours are also used as the front cover and contents page. 

Editing Photos

This is the first photo I experimented with on photoshop. I used a filter to change the general effect of the photo, it has distorted the photo slightly, which really suits the theme that runs throughout my magazine.   

                                         

These are the many other photos i edited to decided whether they fit within the theme of my blog and to be later added on to one of the pages. 

Front Cover

Double Page Spread

Contents Page

Drawn Drafts

Main Task Drafts

Case Study

Kerrang!

Kerrang! is a well known rock music devoted magazine, it is UK based and is published by Bauer Media Group and edited by Geoff Barton. It was first published as a one-off supplement in a newspaper called "Sounds" on the 6^th of June 1981. Initially, the magazine was solely devoted to the rise of hard rock acts and in the early 2000s became the ‘best-selling British music newspaper’. The newspaper was named after a sound made playing a 'power chord' on an electric guitar.

Since the first ever magazine was published Kerrang! have done exceedingly well for themselves. They won a number of awards and followed by expanding the company and creating a radio and television station, both keeping up the theme of the magazine by using only rock and alternative music.

The magazine is very noticeable to their audience with the slick colour scheme and unique layout. The logo ‘Kerrang!’ is always featured right at the top of the magazine in bold white font, with a picture of the artist(s) in the centre. The main colours throughout the magazines are white and black. 

Questionnaire Analysis

I gave out a questionnaire to around 20 people to get a rough idea of how I should create my own magazine. This graph shows the types of magazines people read; clearly ‘Fashion’ was the most popular. Meaning it would be more likely for me to do a feature on the attest fashion, than a tech themed magazine. 

This graph is also based on information taken from my questionnaire results. For these answers, I asked ‘what is your favourite part of a magazine?’. The graph shows me that people enjoying reading interviews, and also ‘real life stories’ was very popular. Therefore in my magazine I shall make sure I put interviews and real life stories in it frequently.

This pie chart, like very other graph I have created is based on my questionnaire results. However this is for the question ‘how much would you pay for a magazine?’, most people said they would be willing to pay £2-£3. This helps me when thinking about the price I could sell my magazine for.

This last graph is based on the question ‘how often do you read magazines?’, winning 64% was Quite often,  which is also helpful when thinking about how often a magazine should be sold. Due to the results I feel the magazine should be sold weekly this way it will be popular and regular.