To The Examiner...

I have very much enjoyed producing this blog, along with my magazine. I am happy with my final piece of work and believe that my media skills have improved consistently throughout the whole process, as I believe that my final magazine is far superior to my preliminary magazine at the begining of the year. I hope you enjoy marking my work as much as i enjoyed producing it!   

Format Magazine

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of music magazines)

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

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My magazine was aimed at white middle class males, who were between the age of 16 and 24. My magazine represents this social age by using a model who 18, this represents the 16-24 years olds as he is a kind of role model for them and the readers will look up to him. My magazined was aimed at outgoing people who have an interest in music but also in fashion as this plays a large role in my magazine. Again my magazine should represent these people as my model is wearing expensive streetwear clothing such as Obey, Adidas, Sebago and Carhart. This clothing and appearance will represent the the social group as these are the kind of clothing that they will wear/desire. I took inspiration from magazines such as Spin, Clash and Vibe magzine, which all have a unique style and focus on the fashion and music. This edition of Clash is particularly eye catching, as the cover shows the unique style and fashion of the group. I used this edition as inspiration as i believe this style will represent my social group. I have used a similar style to this edition of Clash, by using bold text at the top of my magazine and also having text that slighty overlaps the my cover photo.  

I am going to compare the picture of my model/artist with Orlando Weeks from the indie band the Maccabees. He is the perfect person to compare my model as he is an idol like figure in the music industry. Not only is he known for his music, but also for his fashion and style. As you can see in the photo they both have very similar poses, facing the camera and looking straight into the lense. Both also have their hands in their pockets whether it is one or two. Both men also have similar facial expressions, showing little emotion. Orlando and Miles also have similar haircuts, with short back and sides with a long fringe, which is very stereotypical of the indie alternative genre. Despite some similarities the photographs are taken in very different locations, Orlando is clearly in an urban location, with very little around. Whereas the grass around Miles's feet suggests that the photograph was taken in a much more rural location. Although in these photographs Miles and Orlando are wearing quite different clothing they are both wearing clothes of similar styles, with skinny and dark jeans and a coat and shirt which are both fastened at the top. Overall I think the style or each photograph is very similar and the clothing and appearances of each model represents the indie/alternative genre.

Q3. What Kind of Media Institution Might Distribute Your Media Product and Why?

I believe that the best media institution to distribute my magazine would be InterMedia Partners. InterMedia Partners already distribute Vibe magazine, Vibe magazine is a Hip-Hop/R&B magazine, which features extremely famous artists such as Kanye West and Pharrell in each edition. Vibe magazine is a very successful magazine and has become exceedingly popular since publishing its first magazine in 1993.  However I believe there is a gap in the market for my magazine and InterMedia Partners are the right people to distribute my magazine. As oppose to Vibe which concentrates on Hip-Hop/R&B, my music magazine focuses on the indie/alternative genre. The fact that InterMedia Partners distribute Vibe magazine shows that they have experience in dealing with music based media and will have experience and contacts in the industry, this is ideal for magazine as it is new and needs an experienced company such as InterMedia to distribute my magazine. I beleive InterMedia Partners would be an ideal distribution company to distribute my magazine.

Q4. Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

This is the audience profile for my magazine. My target audience were white middle class males, this magazine will appeal to this audience as the magazine is written and designed by a male, so hopefully my magazine will relate more to males tastes rather than female. The magazine is also aimed at white middle class males, the magazine will attract this social group as the magazine is written in semi formal language and features Indie/alternative music which is typically associated with this social group. My audience will be outgoing males, who are fashion concious and wear labels such as Carhart, Stussy and Obey. I believe my magazine will appeal to this type of audience as the photographs are taken outdoors showing that the magazine is outgoing, my magazine also features a festival guide which will appeal to an outgoing audience. My magazine is also aimed at 16-24 year old and these age group is the most outgoing and also the most likely to visit music festivals, so my magazine will appeal to this age group. The labels mentioned above are the clothes my artist is wearing in all of the photographs, this will attract the target audience as they will recognise the brands and be encouraged to read the magazine. My audience must also show an interest in a wide range of music particuarly the Indie / alternative genre as this is the genre that my magazine focuses on, again my magazine will appeal to this kind of audience as there are many references to indie/alternative groups such as: Foals, Crystal and Friendly Fires ect. on the cover, contents and double page spread of my magazine. 

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

   (Click photos to see additional notes)

My target Audience was males and i believe the colour scheme of my magazine, along with the male artist featured in my magazine will attract the right kind of audience. My magazine was also aimed at Indie/alternative audience, my magazine attracts this audience by featured many Indie/alternative bands throughout the magazine which will encourage them to read the magazine. The text used for the title of my magazine is very bold and quite masculine, which would again attract my audience.

Jess: Ed's front cover is really appealing as the layout is eye catching and bold; the model used on the cover is suited to the genre of the magazine and this is carried through all three pages. The contents doesn't live up to the front cover, but still fits with the theme however it could be made slightly better by re-thinking the positioning of the photograph. The double page spread uses good images as they fit in with the article, also the columns of the article look really professional and fit in with the whole page. Overall the consistency is brilliant and the pages all fit together.

Josh: What i like about Ed's front cover is that the masthead is bold and appealing to the audience. The coverlines are placed effectively around the main image, who portrarys the right image of the genre Ed's magazine is based on. The main image seemes similar to the contents page image, it would have been nice if there was a variation between the 2 photos. I really like the layout of the contents page as i feel everything has been placed perfectly for the reader. The double page spread has a simple apporach, with an image coverling the left and collumns of text to the right, but still having a professional feel about it. Overall i think the magazine is good and i would be attratced to the magazine, if i saw it being sold in a shop.

 Grace:

Front cover- I really like the layout of the front cover, even thought there is a good amount of text it does not look to jammed and the image still stands out very well amoungst the text. I like the colour schme that has been used, red black and white. I think that thses three colours stand out well when together and having three colours is a good amout. The two different fronts on the front cover contrast really well together so that they both stand out but dont look like they dont go together.

Contents page- Again with the contents page i really like the layout becuase there is alot of text but it is not all squashed togther in one part of the page it is all spread out well making the images stand out. The feature that i really like on this is the F that is underneath 'contents' i like the consistancy of the name of the magazine and also again the colour scheme has been kept.

Double page spread- The double page spread is very nicly set out,half of the page is an image and the other half of the page is the article, i think this makes the page look very well presented. With this page the colour scheme has carried on through with links the three pages well together and also the F on the left hand side.

Overall i think this magazine is very well presented and would sell well to its target market.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Presentation1

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Q.7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the school magazine task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Final Magazine

New Model Photographs

Front Cover Mock Up

Contents Page Mock Up

DPS Mock Up

Mark Scheme Evaluation

My draft magazine is within this region of the mark scheme as it meets all of these characteristics. To improve my draft i think i need to add more slogans into the contents and double page spread, if used effectively it will lure readers in and could improve my mark. I could also include some promotional offers into my magazine and add a price which is not included on the cover of my magazine. I am also planning of changing some of my pictures and including more emotion and less musical instrumens as i believe it will look more effective, and my magazine will still be clearly linked to the target audience.  

Draft - Feedback Questions

1. What genre do you think this magazine belongs to? 
2. Is there something specific about the magazine you like?
3. How much do you think this would cost?
4. Does the colour scheme fit well? Are there other colours which would look better? 
5. If you were the editor of this magazine, what changes would you make? 
6. Could the layout be better? How?
7. What do you think of the article? How could it be improved?

Draft - Potential Changes

After looking at the mark scheme and other people's work, I have decided to to use less musical instruments in my photographs, as my magazine is music based and including the instruments is quite unecessary.

I may also change the layout of my double page spread, as i think it could look better if it was layed out differently.

Front Cover Draft

Contents Page Draft

Double Page Spread Draft

Inspiration

This magazine article by Clash magazine is very interesting and uses a question and answer structure, which i am planning on using in my draft article.

Institution Profile

Institution profile

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Mock Up - Double Page Spread

This is how I plan to layout my double page spread. I will have a photograph of each band member along the bottom of the page. I have also decided to keep the F in the top left hand corner, this will be a reoccurring theme throughout the magazine. The Band name and Headline will be in very large and bold text and will hopefully draw the readers attention. My article will be placed in the top half of the right-hand page. 

Mock Up - Contents Page

This is a mock up of my contents page, I have taken inspiration from VIBE magazine when I designed this. I have broken up the word contents into two lines, but I may break it up into three lines depending on what I think looks best. I have also placed an 'F' (which stands for Format) behind the word contents, both of these ideas have been inspired by VIBE magazine. I have also decided to include to band pictures and a banner along the bottom of the page, this band will act as a Band index and will list the bands featured in the magazine along with a page number.

Mock Up - Front Cover

This is how I am looking to layout my front cover, I am using a very simplistic layout with simple white background, taking inspiration from Esquire magazine. I have chosen a very bold and striking text in the colour black and a mid-shot photograph of the bands front man.

Band Profile

Name: Broken Glasses
Creating a band name was a difficult task as there are so many different names that you could use, however I set about choosing a band name by searching through the lyrics of some of my favourite bands. I chose to use Broken Glasses which is used in the lyrics of Friendly Fires Skeleton Boy. I used Friendly Fires as they a very talented indie/alternative band and I am creating a magazine which focuses on this genre of music.

Consists of three members all male, Leadsinger and guitar, guitarist and drummer.

New up and coming Indie band. Recently formed and fresh on the music scene.

Likes: Fashion, Partying, Sports, Music and Festivals.

Test Shots

For my test shots i used a plain background to make it easier to cut out using photoshop. However i had some trouble with lighting and quite a few of the pictures have dark shadows so i may have to experiment with different lighting on my real photographs. Overall i am quite pleased with my photographs.

Colour Palette

Colour palette

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To do list:

• Label List                         
• Institution profile
• Colour palettes - existing
• Different titles - existing
• Market research
• Test shots
• Draft DPS
• Mock ups - FC + Contents + DPS 
• More inspiration - influences
• Band Profile

Example of an Article:

Ramble, rant or reminisce, this is an artist’s opportunity to pen their own Clash article.
This issue, Jack Steadman on Bombay Bicycle Club’s Balearic experience...
“The most un-laddiest of lads arrived in Magaluf on June 6th. With my short shorts and Madvillain T-shirt revealing my tiny arms, struggling to lift our heavy bags, I looked around the Mallorca Rocks Hotel reception and saw nothing but toned six-packs or sunburnt beer bellies.
As I was getting changed to get straight into the pool I imagined that I would walk outside and the record that the poolside DJ was playing would scratch to a silence and all heads would turn and glare.
It was a cool place to people-watch, especially from your balcony with a cold beer. The main thing I noticed was that it was mostly big groups of one sex, generally not mingling, like a school disco, and that it was a sin to play a song’s original mix. The gig itself was a lot of fun, we had never played as the sun slowly sets, and it was just such a peculiar place for a gig, with the stage next to the pool and people watching from their balconies.
On our way to Ibiza, I joked that the penthouse they were giving us was just to make it sound cool. We opened the door to find a huge balcony with a hot tub, and an Xbox in every room (just in case we all get bored and lock ourselves in our rooms to play Pro Evo?). By this point our minds were blown. Why don’t the headline band get the penthouse? Oh I see, they are staying in the Ibiza Rocks villa.
I could never get my head round how Lenny Kravitz employs someone to roll his joints for him, but the spoilt level just keeps rising I suppose. It all makes sense now, how you meet one of your heroes and they’ve turned into a dick. Over these three days, people were giving us clothes, Blackberrys, guestlist to superclubs. Me and Ed used to go on long walks after our gigs, and would always talk about the future and if it keeps getting more surreal or if bands get used to it. You play at Glastonbury or support your favourite band and say, ‘There it is, the very top’, but then you’re in your hot tub with Playboy Bunnies. What I love is how out of place we usually are in these situations. I think back to one interview in our dressing room which consisted of five minutes of awkward silence and then, ‘So when are the band going to show up?’
I had no idea what to say to the Bunnies, it was a shame our six-pack T-shirts hadn’t arrived in time. I will never forget DJing at their private terrace party - the rest of the band in sombreros dancing in that so-drunk-I-can’t-dance way with ten Playboy Bunnies.
It’s time me and Ed took a walk and asked the same question, because surely after the last three days it is time to say, ‘There it is, the very top.’”

I really enjoyed reading this article, as it contians a lot of humour which keeps the reader interested. The article is written usinge quite colloquial language which connects well with the target audience of the magazine.

Audience Profile

Audience profile

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Magazine Title

I have chosen to call my magazine Format, I came up with this name after researching other brand names. I took inspiration from the clothes shop SIZE? and decided the name was very creative and specific to the shop as it sells clothes and shoes. After seeing this name I decided to call my magazine format as music does not come in sizes it come in different formats such as: Mp3, Mp4 and CD.

Format

Pitch Feedback Analysis

From the feedback I have received and i am still very confident about my ideas of layout, taking inspiration from VIBE and my colour scheme. However from feedback i have realised that it will be difficult to appeal to both men and women, so I have decided to change my target audience to just men, as I believe that my magazine will appeal to men rather than women, and trying to appeal to both could reduce the quality of my magazine.

Fonts

Fonts

Inspiration

Inspiration

Mood Board

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Double Page Spread Analysis

Double page spread analysis

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Contents Page Analysis

Media contents page

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Cover Analysis

3 covers analysis power point

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Magazine Pitch

Pitch

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