What I am planning for this course work

In the second part to my course work it is going to be a new music magazine.  For this I will have to:

*Know what target audience I am aiming for 

*see what is already on the market

*Research all the best sellers of music magazines/the popular well know ones

*Take more multi shot pictures 

*Update my blog every week as a little review

*research

*Annalise 3 front cover, 2 contents pages, 2 double spread pages

To make this blog better than the last I will:

*Take my time

*Constantly re-read my work and check on my spellings

*Experiment using video blogs

*Use more key words

*Start to get more audience feedback

I will try my best to keep up dating my blog and if I forget catch up with the work I have missed for that week.  Keep going back to the magazines available and keep to my target audience.    I will keep referring back to my action plan and research to compare what I can do to improve my pages.

Course work 2-Music magazine

Action plan:

Week 1 (14th December):  Brief and action plan-textual analysis

Week 2 (4th January):  Internet research/textual analysis

Week 3 (11th January):  Audience research

Week 4 (18th January):  Colour and research on font

Week 5 (25th January):  Photo shoot

Week 6 (1st February):  Draft and construction

Week 7 (8th February):  Updates

Week 8 (22nd February):  Updates

Week 9 (1st March):  Spell check

Week 10 (8th March):  Spell check and conclusion 

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

Student magazines are aimed at one audience, teenagers they are mainly put out to give advice on careers because they are heading in that direction and half the time have no idea what is out there so the magazines are used as a guide into the future.
On the magazines they all included help/advice and some times even the mention of famous teenage celebrities to draw the reader in. The typical content in magazines are careers, driving and the dangers that surround teens.
To include this I have created my magazine cover main topic to be based around party's and drinking. Usually on original magazines they would have the writing scatter on the image with no border however I couldn't do this because my picture has different colour tones so some sections you could read the writing while other parts it was very difficult to read. Although I did find it a bit awkward to read this .
The difference I have made to this is trying various ideas, such as making the headline go horizontally, this was not a very good idea, but I though that at least I tried and showed the development.
As you can see from my magazine cover the main features that you need is some sort of main topic/gripping story to shock the readers.












• How does your media product represent particular social groups?


The way that I have made my magazine show the typical gender and social groups is by aiming story headlines that relate to teenagers. Such as talking about drinking a common subject that is mentioned. I would say that I my main audience was teenagers, and if was based around students then it would be talking about Carree advice and to me this is what I think separates people from reading the magazine it seems rather boring.
I do feel that I have represented teenagers well, this is because of my photos that I have used and some of the stereotypical topics that are commonly used to represent teenagers are used as my headlines and stories.
I chose the image of me and my friend Alice because its lively and I thought it would have been an easy topic to talk about. If I had used one of my other pictures then I don't think it was have been very good. For one thing not many of them were medium close ups, and I would have to edit them. Also I didn't like it to the fact that no one was paying attention so it made it look a bit awkward.
I struggled on writing on my picture because of the lighting. No matter where I wrote only certain lettering showed up, and I found this to be very annoying. So I went back to my research and decided what colours appeal to both genders and what do student magazines have as there colour scheme.
That's where I came up with idea for the blue boxes, I found from research that its lively vibrant colours combine with either 1-3 other bright colours and then natural. I think this is because the page would look to busy and over crowded and then you have no sense of direction, as in you don't know rat to read first and then you get bored.


• What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think the company's that would invest or take ideas from my magazine would most likely be the college. I think its similar because those were the two magazines I studied the most and I have taken some of their ideas.
I think they would want to use my magazine because its based around teenagers, and the world of students. Most magazines if they are not written by students seem very in your face and seem a bit stereotypical and start blammoing everyone or just giving advice for the next steps in life.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?
Age? Gender? General profile of your audience?

The main audience for the magazine as I have said would be either students/teenagers. Mainly teens because I didn't want to base it all around getting jobs and finding a career. The main reason of this because when I read magazines talking about jobs it seems really pressuring and a bit dull as if I was being nagged.


• How did you attract/address your audience?
What did you include in your mag to make it attractive to your target audience? Spend some time discussing the front cover – remember this is the hook that makes people buy it (70% of people buy their mags on the spur of the moment) Think also about mode of address – how does your mag “talk” to the audience. Why would someone want to buy your magazine?

I think the main thing that lures people to buy my magazine is the image. Just like any other magazine people look at the picture first to assume they like it. They give a brief look at the headlines and to see if it becomes any interest.
Because it called student life I think my picture catches people, due to the fact that me and Alice look like the image is meant for a music magazine. Most teens are into music so I though this would draw people in.

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

From this I have learnt how to create blogs, I have learnt a little bit more on publisher, and coral paint. This has become very handy to get the magazine cover that I wanted. I already knew about some of the programs available such as coral. The trouble was that some times the computer would not let me process the images I had to use publisher however using publisher made learnt how to add different effects.

I also learnt how to use the scanner and upload images such as the Etc magazine. I didn't use a digital camera because I already had the images but this project has tough me how to recognise certain angels of the image such as medium close ups.

All together I have found this project a bit of a challenge such as up dating my blog and meeting deadlines. I really happy that if I wasn't able to meet a deadline I would set my self the task to complete ti and try and get a bit more done. Personally I have really enjoyed it and I have gain new skills in completing my magazine cover.

The hardest part I found was finding information on what is available on the market already, and getting ideas such as the front cover and what topics should be included.

If I could improve anything/start again I think I would have do some more compassion and find some ore images. I also would have liked to think of more cover story's and know most of the magazine terms off by heart.

However I have really enjoyed my self and I'm very Happy with the end result.

This was my first contents page I don't think its really what I wanted. To me it looks a bit plain and if no much is going on.




I think I might start researching some more magazines to see what makes them stand out. I think a good way to draw people in would be to experiment with different font and colouring.




I really need to upload some more pictures because I think the page needs to have a bit more towards it. An idea I have recently thought of, is when I can upload some more pictures I should try creating them to make the border.




The use of colour in my first idea seems quite basic and I don't think it appeals to both genders, and I feel that my colours that I chose were not very adventurous.
So for the next time I create a contents page I will make it more lively, add more pictures and try to make it look a bit more lively a bouncy so that it feels like a student magazine and not a dull piece of paper with some information on


This was my second attempt I feel that this one went a lot better than the first. This time I chose a background already set and used a colour scheme that I think appeals to both genders.
However I still not very pleased with this one and I'm going to add pictures that relate to the topic as I have learnt from looking at other magazines on the market.
While looking at my second attempt, I think it looks like its avabile in a magazine while the other one looks like its in a presentation.
I will have one last go at editing my contents page and use images of line that relate the topics to images that are online I just hope that it will go well this time.





I'm really happy I took the advice on creating my contents page with columns. I think it makes the page look at lot neater. Everything seems more clearly and it's what I wanted. I really need to add more pages because it still seems a bit blank on the other hand I do think it has made a big improvement.
The problem is I have no idea what other topics I can add, I was thinking along the lines of knife crime and top headlines I think that is one thing that I can do to make an improvement.

These are the images that I will use in my contense page

I'm too sure if I will use all the pictures I have uploaded because I think I might try and link some towards the topic being mentioned. Such as my main headline/story about drinking, but I shall do the same as I did for my front cover and do about 3 pages until I find the right one. I will also add new pictures and then decide what I think is best suited. I just hope this time my images don't become really pixlated and become a bit fussy like my front cover.

contents page

I am now going to do the designs for my contents page in this it will have various pictures that I have taken in the past of friends these images will be going around the side on the and the background will be a deep blue this is because it seems like a colour that is perfect for both genders.

The pages will be listed as:

1)The contents -This will not be written down because it's pointless

2/3)Questions of the week/advice-I have decided this because its a good way to use an introduction, and it does'nt bore you by just going straight in to a mini story. If this was a real magazine then the first 2 pages would be a little introduction and past students advice on exams and getting through the year. You tend to see these type of things in a magazine introduction so it keeps the reader entertained.

4)Will be a comption. I have noticed that ushaly on the first pages its either adverts/what you can win

5)Is information/ a mini story on the dangers of drinking. I'm making it like this because it links to the picture. I see this as a little warm up of whats about come, and also gets the annoying naggy depressing bit over and done with and then all the good news is to read.

8)New band reviews. After the interview and the hot topic is over I would then link it to the entertainment. In this case it will new student bands and would be people talking about there history, and how the bands were formed (If this was a real magazine)

10)Holidays. This would be about Students and what summer jobs there are. A quick questioner of what some students are doing. Also I think I would add on what people need to have when on holiday

13)Festivals. What festivals are going on and again asking students what ones they are going to/been to

My little captions under each title will be:

Questions
This weeks questions hot off the press and the latest advice from the new students/the exams

Win
This weeks comption could get you a new ride

Drinking
The story behind the party, and an exclusive interview

Reviews
This weeks new student bands, can they make the cut?

The holidays are here!
what are you up to this year for summer??? We question the students

Festival fever
What's worth your money

The front cover

In this week I am planning on creating my cover using the image of me and my friend Alice. I have chosen this picture because I though I would base my magazine on student party's. This is a good image to use because at the time me and my friend were having a party to begin with.

I have decided to do my layout like this because most common magazines have a layout similar to mine. As it says on the banner/headline/masthead it shall say "Student life". I'm not sure what text style I shall use because I have no idea what ones are available, however I will make sure that the writing is hybrid. To do this I will find a text style that has a range of colours that stands out.
My main headline by the side of my picture will be called "The after life of the party". I have given it this name because it, makes you feel curious in wondering what the topic is on about, is it complaining about partying, giving advice, or in support I might name this as an exclusive but I'm not too sure it will be very good for this topic.










This is my first front cover that I have created, Ive chosen a basic colour scheme because I didn't want to over crowd the page so that you would get distracted by the different font range and writing. I think I'm going to do a few more, using the same image to see what I think is the best.




This is my second cover that I have created. I think this one was lot better than the first because it feels more lively most likely because of the add of colour, but I still feel like it's missing something. I'm a little annoyed that my pictures has'nt come out that well and that the captions are a too small to read.
However I happy to the fact that its a suitable image and that the main story based around the picture is easy to read.
I have decided that this will be my final idea but it will have some more information such as the price.















This was my third go at changing the cover. In this cover I wanted to make it seem less crowded so by doing this I change the title to now be portrait, I also wanted to get more of the picture involved. This does not seem as good as the other pictures. I just wanted to see what it would look like and see what other people thought.

I have found some images that will be good for my front cover and have chosen various ones to compare to:

The first image, is of me and my friend Alice. This image was not really planned for this magazine. How ever I thought it was good for my magazine cover. I felt it was a good choice because it shows students having fun and a good laugh and is eye catching. However the contrast doesn't work very well and he fact the camera was loose made the image look a bit blurry.

I think this image would'nt be that great because you can see my friend Ryan in the back of the shot. Also you would have to stretch it.

Next week I am planning on doing a photo shoot, with the help of some friends to get the perfect shot. Again I will research other magazines and discuss with people what they think is appropriate.
So far this week I have sorted my blog, discussed names and ideas for what is already out there, and research magazines.
My tasks for next week are to finish my sections of blogs add in images, come up with a name, get my photo done. This weekend get my doodles out and attempt on a front cover that will posted when completed.
I will post various pictures of students in medium close ups, and decide what will be added. Again I will research the most common things on the headings, and use this to my standards.

Week 1-Research

In the first week as I said I was going to do research on teenage/student magazines. I have done a bit of this in lesson time and will research some more online.

The magazine I was given to study was called "E.C.T" (Education. Training. Careers.). When I first had a look at the cover I didn't notice the little heading, just the part saying "ETC". To be honest I thought the name was made to suggest there's a point to everything but sometimes it take too long to explain so its to take a short cut. The cover has various colourful cartoon characters, the main subject of this weeks issue was on alcohol.
The main topic/title was sentenced 'Alcohol' the font is merged very well into the background and was the only part (apart from the background) that wasn't colourful. I felt the reason they did this was because they know what the target audience are like and want to warn them about the danger of drinking, but it uses comical characters to make it seem fun and not nagging.
Another reason I think the magazine has little cartoon characters on the front page is because if you use images of the target audience (Teenagers) in a drunk state, then people will get the wrong impression and think its all related to drinking and where all the best local.

What I will do in the 4 weeks

So to being with I have been set a task to create the front cover of a new student magazine and the contense page. Anyway so I now have 4 weeks of prep time to organise this so here is what I am planning to do.


Week 1: RESEARCH! To help see what the Target audience is into, what is already out there. I will also start to think of various designs, the name and what will attract the target audience.

Week 2: Gather information for a questionnaire, topics that I should advertise on the front cover. Photo shoots and decide what sort of image I want for the front cover. (I have to remember that the picture must be in a medium close up)

Week 3: Start drafting for my final idea, until I think I have a break through.

Week 4: THE FINAL WEEK. Finish my final idea, and check over and over again, such as my spellings and have I kept up to date with my blog. Also write and evaluation giving my thought and ideas and just why I have done things to a certain standard.

So that is my plan I have a feeling I can keep on track with all this. I really can't wait to get started. Please drop a comment if you like giving advice on what I could do to improve E.G.polls on what the magazine name should be.