question7

For a start my preliminary task proved extremely helpful so that I could understand and plan out my tasks for the real project it helped me realise which task needed more attention and what I needed to work on for longer for example in my preliminary task . I think that I handled my drafts very well but when it came to using Adobe Photoshop I wasn’t very experienced with the software and so the preliminary task aided me in getting to know how to use this software or it would have been a struggle in the main task trying to make my product look good although I didn’t know how to use the software. Also my time-keeping wasn’t very good. My human resources were very reliable so there was no problem there and the pace I decided to take my photos was always available and so there was no problem there either. The first time I took pictures it wasn’t satisfactory and the quality wasn’t good so I had to re-do my photos and this slowed down my progress to start my magazine . So finally getting my photos right I started my editing in Adobe Photoshop and from the experience gained from the pre-luminary task it helped me with designing my magazine. I wasn’t really satisfied with my final front cover. I couldn’t find the font that I wanted on the front page because in a lot of the magazines the masthead is very big and eye-catching, so I wanted to copy this convention but I couldn’t find a font that was graffiti-like and big so it could appeal to my demo-graphic audience because this is the style of writing they do. But in the end I found one that didn’t come up to what I wanted but was a close as it could get. The layout of my magazine was full of the different conventional ideas of normal magazines. For example the big masthead is a big convention the majority of magazines use it. Also there is a website at the top of the page, a lot of magazines have websites now because a lot people have easy access to it via internet cafes, home, libraries, public places, some teaching institutions. Majority of magazines appealing to young adults use ‘slang’ to attract their audience like I have done also.
My contents page was very successful I knew what I wanted on it and when I edited it and finished it in Photoshop it looked good it, because it had conventions from a standard magazine, but also I had an idea and used it to make my magazine look original. With my contents page my time-keeping wasn’t a problem. The layout was very original with a convention used which was page numbers, I think the vast majority of magazines use page numbers.
My double page spread not very good first of all. Also I hadn’ t used any conventions either so it didn’t look very good, but I changed the whole thing except for the layout of the text and it turned out much better.
I think that I have learnt a lot throughout this whole project and it has enabled me to make the threes first pages of a magazine looking at the conventions and exploring and developing the ideas, to make three pages also I learned some new tools in Photoshop when I learnt how to fade text and change the opacity of how visible something is, also to put different effects on the words on my magazine. I also learnt that time-keeping is a major part of this and if you didn’t keep with time wouldn’t be on your side and in this case time really wasn’t because of the pictures that made my project slow down, so if I had another chance to do this project I would plan my time more carefully.




FEEDBACK

My Audience feed back was very constructive I asked a few people and here are there opinions.
Person number1 aged 17- white British
I think that the pages are done very nicely but the front page, should have had more pictures or another picture to make it look more exciting. The contents page was very good I especially liked the faded picture in the background, it is a nice touch. The double page spread was very good it really looked like an actually magazine double page spread but I still think there should have benn more picture or exciting backgrounds to appeal to the audience, The model is perfect, and the costume is very good and if I saw this magazine I would probably buy it!
Person number2- aged 16- White European
Straight away I think that there is something missing from the front page. its needs to be more busy and also I don't really like the picture and I think that it should have been a picture of the whole model instead. I really like the contents page especially the unique way the menu is set out. The text is appealing and I think that this is the best page out of all of them. the double page spread needs more writing and pictures, although the style is very appealing to the eyes it still lacking something. Otherwise I really like the rest of it, it just seems a bit to empty. I dont't think that I would buy this magazine unfortuanately it doesn't appeal to me that much.
person number3- aged 18- black african
I think this magazine cover is very good I like the use of fonts and the picture is a little too big though the use of colour is very attractive and the gradient used in the backgorund. The contents page is very good I think the layout is very thoughtful and the font used appeals to me. The picture are cool I think the way the model is dressed appeals to me especially his jumper! the double page spread is good the layout is very cool especially the way the text is tilting to the side it really gives a good effect. But I have to complain about one thing I don' t think the smoke like stuff around the image is good it should have been more smooth. But if I saw this magazine I would buy it and I would recommend it to others. its good.
person number4-aged 17 black caribbean
I think just by looking at this magazine I want to buy it I like the model, what he is wearing the way he looks, I want to be like him. I think the front page is et out well needs a bit more excitement a picture or something like that. The contents page is very good I like the style, the layout, the text and the pictures. it is very good. The double page spread is the best page, because of the way it is set out the text it tilting to the side and the musical notes are a goof idea. I think that it is great!

White British-male- aged 15
I really think that there was something missing from the front page maybe a picture or more text. It needed to be more crowded, but the colours went together really well and the contents page was ok it needed more of something on it. The double page spread was good I liked the layout of the text, especially and agianl the colours looked good. But I would still slightly un comfortable picking this up because the style and set out doesn’t really appeal to me.
Black Caribbean-male- aged 18
I would definitely buy this magazine from the style the layout the font also really appealed to me. I think that the front cover and the model looked ‘cool’ and what he was wearing as well. The front cover looked good and the small font looked good. I think the contents page was a simply and original and which was good again the text was chosen well. The pictures were placed in the right places as well.
Mixed Race White British and African- female aged 17
I think that I would pick up this magazine because of the model on the front. He’s very attractive and his costume is ‘cool’ But I’am not sure if I would read it. Because music isn’t really my area. The pages were all done very good but it seems that this magazine is mainly aimed at the male gender. I think the pictures were used were good choice.
White European- male-aged18
I didn’t like the way this magazine was layout out I didn’t like the way the front page was, there was too much writing and the picture used was boring. Also I think that the contents page was the best page because it was a layed out quite simply and this was good and also the double page spread there wasn’t that much writing and I think the fact that there was so much wriing on the front page this put me off also it clearly wasn’t aimed at my race because of the way the model was dressed the whole layout and theme didn’t really appeal to me at all.

The feedback was very helpful, I think if I had more time I would add more picture and there was problem because my pictures weren't good enough so I ended up just using some picture if I had the chance I would have taken a picture in the park or somewhere more picturesque. But I didn't think to do that before. If I had the time to re-do my project, I would add more picture and spend more time with Photoshop to increase my knowledge.

Question6

I think that this project has really helped me tremendously to better my skills using Adobe Photoshop.
I have learnt how to fade the text that I wanted, I accumulated this skill and used it for my front page.

I created this text and then I used the magic wand tool to select a single letter. I then chose the gradient tool to get a gradient effect on each single letter. When creating a lot of the text I used blending options to make the text come alive or have a certain effect, there were lots of different ways I could change the text. On my contents page I learned something new and it was that if I changed the opacity I could get and effect of an image or text becoming slightly less visible( you can see this by looking at the ‘ WOSS’ the word looks slightly less visible). I used this skill with the musical notes so that you could see the picture on top of the note instead. My double page spread was a little different. I used the smudge tool to create a ‘smoke like’ effect around the model to make him look
more mysterious. I used the rectangle tool, to create the columns.
I used the custom shape tool, which had musical notes shapes, because this connotes music.

The feedback given was quite constructive. People said that I needed to spend more time on my double page spread and I think this is true, they thought that the text ‘ win tickets’ on my front page was a bit too big and a lot of people really liked the layout of my contents page. I agree with them although I think that I may have needed to add a bit more yellow. But I definitely agree I needed to spend more time on my double-page spread if I had the time I would go back and completely change my double page spread. This project has helped me accumulate more skills in using Adobe Photoshop and the skills to design and present a magazine.

Question 5

I attracted my audience in a number of ways. First I decided to use a model which is black and young; straightaway this will appeal to my black audience. Both genders because he is attractive and girls will want to look at this, because he looks ‘cool’ boys will think, I want to be like him. The font I used on my front cover is graffiti style and appeals a lot to my demographic group.
I also put a name ‘Chris Brown’ which will attract the opposite sex, because a lot of people know Chris Brown and he famously known and adored among the opposite sex, because he is so attractive. But for the other names on there, I made them up. In addition I used some slang words ‘woss gwarnin’ which is a typical
This will again attract people who use this language, also the way I have made these two words stand out so that it can catch people’s attention. As well as it is talking people’s language it’s on their level, because if it was talking very formal, like the style of language in a broadsheet newspaper, it won’t attract the people I want to attract. I put the ‘Win tickets’ in bold and a bright colour to make it really stand out because a lot of people will be prepared to buy a magazine if there is something worth winning in the magazine. And wining tickets is a ‘big thing’ for people who are big fans of music artists. Also like I pointed out before saying ‘ free posters inside’ is another attraction because people want to get as much as they can for as little price possible. Also put ‘A natural’ in big because people want to be looked on as someone great so they want to look on those who has done well and copy them.
I decided to dress my model in clothes that are recognised and popular brands for example the big Nike jumper the model is wearing is a very popular brand in the UK. Another popular brand name is Adidas. You can also see that he has earphones these connote music so straightaway there is a link to music, the reason I wanted these there is because this is a music magazine so I wanted to relate to music, especially because nearly everyone goes around with headphones in, it is considered the norm, but the majority are teenagers.

The model is wearing a hat with the Adidas logo on it.
The model on the front cover is also 18 years old and this is the some of the age-group I want to catch the attention of, to buy my magazine, if I had an older model it will less likely be attracted by the people that I want to buy the magazine. Unless it was a famous rapper, singer or celebrity that my demographic group knew for example: Beyoncé, Chipmunk and Giggs. Like this magazine they have used a well known music artist.

Evaluation-Question 4

The demographic group I am aiming my product are 16- 19 year olds, most likely afro-Caribbean’s because my model that I have on the front cover for my magazine is black-Caribbean. The way he is portrayed shows him to be a typical black male. Why’s this, because he has a baseball hat on which is very common among young black males today also he is wearing clothes with brand names on them. This is the fashion, if you stay with the fashion you will always look good and so making my model wear clothes with popular brand names on them also should catch my target audiences’ attention. On my double page spread it shows another picture of my model with his hair out in an afro another fashion statement and mainly done among young black males.
Question 5-I attracted my audience in a number of ways. First I decided to use a model which is black and young; straightaway this will appeal to my black audience. Both genders because he is attractive and girls will want to look at this, because he looks ‘cool’ boys will think, I want to be like him. The font I used on my front cover is graffiti style and appeals a lot to my demographic group. I also put a name ‘Chris Brown’ which will attract the opposite sex, because a lot of people know Chris Brown and he famously known and adored among the opposite sex, because he is so attractive. But for the other names on there, I made them up. In addition I used some slang words ‘woss gwarnin’ which is a typical jamaican saying.

Evaluation-Question3

The media institution I have chosen for my magazine is IPC this is because, they appeal to two types of audience and this is men and women, not teenagers. So if I decide to use IPC then it will broaden their spectrum and give them a chance to also have another major audience who will buy their magazine. The magazines they have focus on women at home and also women and about houses and mainly things that interest the common housewife also the women at work, so they vary their types of magazines. For the men they do magazines about hunting and lifestyles and jobs .So in choosing this institution for my magazine will give them a whole new audience to focus on and because so many teenagers are into music so many will buy also because they have articles online and teenagers use the internet very frequently will most likely use online more. The shops that I would distribute my magazines in would most likely be newsagents, because a lot of teenagers will go to the newsagents to get a drink etc. also if I was to try and distribute my magazine in stations it would get bought as much because most teenagers use the buses the majority of adults use the stations to get to work and so it would be ideal for an institution who want to attract adults attention to sell their magazine at stations. Also another ideal place to distribute my magazine is bars and youth clubs because going to bar is a popular leisure activity among the teenage group. But not nightclubs because the majority go to nightclubs to have fun and a drink not to sit down and read a magazine, that you could be reading on the bus or at home in your room. Also another idea is at colleges because this is where you would probably be most successful because there is such a densely populated area of my demographic group. So I would most likely to sell my magazine in a teaching institution where I can get the maximum publicity and most likely to sell the most of my product also for college most people bring money and so spending maybe£1.50- £2.00 isn’t going to be a problem for most people, whereas with people at a nightclub or maybea bar they brought their money to spend on drink and have a good time and so especially if they get drunk reading a magazine will be the last thing on their mind.

Evaluation-Question 2

I attracted my audience in a number of ways. First I decided to use a model which is black and young, straightaway this will appeal to my black audience. Both genders because he is attractive and girls will want to look at this, because he looks ‘cool’ boys will think, I want to be like him. The font I used on my front cover is graffiti style and appeals a lot to my demographic group.

My media product appeals to mainly one demographic group and this is especially to young black males, clearly because I have chosen a model who is young black and male, because a certain type of music is associated with young black males which is hip-hop, R n B and Rap, and this is the type of music I have chosen for my magazine. My model is dressed wearing a hat because this also links in to how a lot of black boys wear hats or hoods, it is a very popular item of clothing among the male gender so this will attract the males. Also in my double page spread he is wearing sun glasses making him look mysterious and ‘cool’. In my double page spread he has an afro and this is another way young black males are shown with an afro.
My magazine most likely wouldn’t appeal to European or British audiences because they don’t really dress in this way and also have a totally different culture and the way they are, although there are the small majority that grow up around in an afro- Caribbean community, they are accustomed to the music and the dress, some are not. What's more is the older audiences for example adults from about 30+ upwards would not really be interested in a music magazine with language that they may not understand or like. The language and imagery is not really appealing to them because the way the model is dressed is not how they would dress most likely, they would not pick up this magazine because it doesn’t have a model of someone they might know or attract to them because the model is quite young-looking, the majority would just want to hear about jobs, taxes and the government. So audiences from 30+ would most likely not pick this up. Also my model is wearing clothes with famous name brands, which is very popular these days, just as the fashion and so this could appeal to lots of different races, simply because of what he is wearing. The representation of my model is a music artist so that is why he has earphones with what he is wearing, also his NVC is serious and this is a typical expression for music artists on the front cover of a music magazine.

Evaluation- Question 1

Evaluation
In my evaluation, I am going to outline and describe in detail: the conventions I used in my magazine and why, how my media product represents certain groups, what type of media institution would distribute my magazine, who would be attracted to my product, who my demographic group is, how did I attract them to my product. Also what I found useful and learned using the technologies and software packages during the project and lastly from the pre-liminary task to the real task what have I learnt from developing my product.
For are project we were instructed to make three pages: Front Page, Contents page and Double-Page Spread. Designing these pages as well as getting ideas from other real magazines, to aid our original ideas to make our magazines look like a real magazine.

My media product challenges and develops a lot of the conventions used in professional magazines today, for example: On my Front page for my product I have chosen to use the convention where there is a big masthead, this is very commonly used and also it grabs the reader’s attention.

Also I put a dateline, issue number and website address, which are also included in a vast majority of magazines these days, especially website addresses because our country is ‘information rich’ we can access the internet via internet cafes, libraries, at home, even through other technologies provided E.G mobile phones, computers and games consoles. Also I used a barcode, a lot of the magazines also use this and it is commonly put in one of the four corners. I used the barcode to make my magazine look like a real magazine. Furthermore I used a lot of cover lines, simply to advertise what is inside my magazine and grab my reader’s attention.In addition I used another convention used by magazine ‘ FREE POSTERS INSIDE’ Freebies: pens,makeup, sweets, posters and tickets also entice people to pick up magazines also. This is used very often and attracts a lot more people to pick up magazines.

Also I analysed other magazines, to get more ideas for my product by looking at magazines in the shops and searching on the internet for magazine pages. Focusing mainly on the layout, conventions used, fonts and colours used. For my magazine I wanted a Hip-Hop look because it will appeal to my demographic group. So I wanted to get the right font which was a challenge because I needed a font which was bold, clear and graffiti-like. I tried various different mastheads, but none were bold and graffiti-like. I ended up using a font that was just bold.
The image I used was taken with a camera and it is a medium-shot, I was thinking of an image that is looking down on the reader. As I am trying to convince the reader that there is a sense of power, and influence of the person on the magazine cover, but I didn’t get an image that I liked which looked like that.
I used an image that was a mid shot because I wanted the reader to see half costume selected for the model, which is the clothes often worn today by my demographic group.

I also decided to stick with four main colours, because analysing the other magazine it hasn’t used very many colours , but there is always one colour that stands out, attractive and eye-catching. In this case I chose yellow. The other magazine has two bright colours. I decided to use not many different fonts, because looking at the other magazine they only used one or two types of font. So I used 4 different fonts. For the masthead I used Gill sans Ultra Bold, I used this font because it came closest to what I wanted for my masthead. It was big and broad, although I wanted the letters to overlap, I couldn’t find a font that was to my satisfaction, so ended up finding a font that was just bold. Also found a font which I could use for small writing. The small font is Philly Sans .I decided to use this font because I wanted a ‘graffiti- style text’, because my demographic audience is attracted to this type of font. The font for ‘EXCLUSIVE’ is called Stereofidelic I decided that this font went well with the other types of font, because it is different and stands out from the other fonts. There weren’t really any props, except for the earphones around his neck and these connote music and this is a music magazine so that is the reason why they are there. The costume was very stereotypical dress of a black young male. NVC is serious because a lot of black young males are seen as serious.

For my Contents page the same colours were used. I used a very traditional convention which is page numbers and titles for what is on what page. But I also changed the layout to make it more original and it came out high-quality. I used four fonts on my contents page, and this made it look smart, simply and tidy.
The masthead font is whoa! I got this font from the website Dafont.com.This font was originally to be my masthead on the front page, but it didn’t stretch to be big and bold, as I wanted it to be. The word ‘page’ in a font called ‘nose grind demo’ which I really liked, but it didn’t work with what was going on the front page, so I decided to put it on the contents page. It also has a nice graffiti effect.
The small writing is from another font downloaded from Dafont.com, called ‘judas’. I used this font because the style was graffiti and these appeal to my demographic-group. I used Gill sans Ultra Bold because it’s thick and chunky and I only used it with certain words that I wanted to stand out. Also I used a masthead at the top of the page which is another convention in contents pages. Although I used the convention of page numbers and titles, I made each line come from the opposite direction that the previous line had come from, this is an idea developed from looking at contents page conventions.

My Double page spread I had difficulty deciding how to lay it out, because there are so many different conventions they use and all are very different, because I wanted to develop some conventions to incorporate my own ideas into the double page spread, it proved quite difficult. First of all decided to use big black columns and then add writing on them. This a convention used by magazines, articles and most of all newspapers to help the reader consume the material in ‘digestible chunks.’ But the big black boxes behind the writing didn’t make it look very professional. So I had to scrap the whole idea. But, I wanted my text to be in columns, so I decided to not have black boxes behind my writing, only have the writing in columns. I used three fonts in my double page spread; the font that I used is called Grand Stylus. This I used for the title,I really like the look of it.
The writing font Gill sans Ultra Bold had to be 12 and this is because that normally in double page spreads, the writing is small, the font that I used is thick and small but it’s still legible, and that’s what counts.
Also I included the quote which was in ‘Philly Sans’ the quote came from the front cover and this is another convention used by magazines.
The image on the right is looking down on us which gives us a sense that the model is in a position of power. The pictures I selected and put at the top of the page were taken with camera and the way they are placed makes it look very good. In addition I used a convention where the first letter of the first word is very big and I used it at the beginning of the top two paragraphs. Overall, I am satisfied with my double page spread.