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

I feel that I have a different view on graphic design than I did before.  I have learnt that It is much more difficult than it looks to get the ideas down in your head on to the computer screen, especially without good knowledge of the program for doing it.  I started off by using a more basic program called Microsoft Publisher for my preliminary task which gave me a good idea of how desktop publishing programs work.  I then moved on to the more advanced program called Adobe Photoshop Elements which gave greater control over the design elements of the magazine.  I feel that I have progressed well and now have a good understanding of graphic design and would be comfortable to take on another similar project.

How did you attract/address your audience?

In order to know what my audience would want in a music magazine I had to find out about my audience.  I did this in two ways.  The first method was primary market research with the use of an online questionnaire whcih could be filled in quickly and easily.  I sent links around to my friends using social networking sites in order to get people to answer the questionnaire.  I then created several graphs once all the data has been collected which  made the information easier to process.  The results from this information can been seen here.

Another way in which I found out about my audience was by using forums from magazine similar to the one I created.  One that I read through extensively was the Mojo magazine forums.  From here I was able to see what music the readers of Mojo magazine generally listen to.

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

During the process of constructing my magazine I have learnt a lot about different technologies, hardware and software based. When I first started to plan my magazine, I started by designing a collage magazine which was designed in Microsoft Publisher. I found that, although appropriate for the task in hand, it was hard to make the designed look professional enough to pass as a genuine magazine. The problem was that there was not much fine control over the elements of the page such as the text boxes and shapes, which meant that resizing and colouring were as far as I could go. I did however incorporate some transparency which helped to make the design look a little more professional.

For my main magazine, I moved on to two programs made by Adobe. The first was Adobe Photoshop Elements and the other was Adobe InDesign CS4. Adobe Photoshop Elements is a raster image editing product which is basically a simpler version of Adobe Photoshop, which is aimed at less professional users such as photographers. The program makes it much easy than Microsoft Publisher to create the design you want with much finer control over the different elements that make up the page. The program also has extensive photography editing tools which make it easy to manipulate images. I used these features to make some my original images black and white and to add a cross-processed effect to the main image on my double page spread. 

For the actual double page spread, I used Adobe InDesign CS4 which is a professional desktop publishing application which is generally used to create poster, flyers and magazines.  It basically a more advanced version of Microsoft Publisher (which is also a DTP application) with more focus on advanced layout techniques and effects. Over the course of creating my magazine I have learnt a lot about the programs that I've used.  I have learnt basic photo editing techniques, layout design, the use of effects (such as drop shadow) on elements, the use of opacity settings.  In using all these techniques I feel that I have built a professional and good looking front cover, contents page and double page article. I also learnt different photography techniques, which I needed for taking the pictures for my magazine.  Some of these techiniqes include framing with the rule of thirds, headroom and lead room.

The blogging element of this coursework was new to me when we first started as I had never attempted blogging before but after a while spent messing around with the different features I found it to be very similar to word processing, just found within the browser.  Through the course of creating my blog I learnt about such features as font formatting, hyperlinks, inserting images and basic blog management (editing and publishing posts).

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I believe that the audience for my media product would be mainly young males from the age range of 16-25.  I think this because for my market research I conducted an online questionnaire (the results of which can be viewed here) and around 80% of them were males.

As for the age range, because the music in the magazine is mainly new rock/alternative music i would think that it would draw the attention of a younger audience rather than an older one.  I knew from the start that I wanted to aim for this age range and my music magazine has been designed as such.  This is because this age range contains people who would be likely to visit concerts and be heavily involved with music.  This gives me a target audience who should have some disposable income and would be interested in products like mine.

What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?

In order for a music magazine to be sucessful, they have to have good backing from a publishing house.  If I had the choice of any I would choose Development Hell Ltd.  Development Hell independent media company based in Islington, London.  They were formed from ex-Emap (here) executives David Hepworth, Terry Perkins, Mark Ellen and Andrew Harrision.  Their business plan involves launching 3 magazines in 6 years.

As of now, they publish two music magazines.  The first of which is The Word magazine that was launched in February of 2003 and is published monthly in the UK.  The Word is divided into two sections, the front of the magazine is focuses on music interview and features whereas the back of the magazine whcih concentrates on reviews of CDs, DVDs, books and films.  The second magazine is called Mixmag.

Mixmag is a British dance music and clubbing magazine.  It tagline is "the worlds biggest selling dance music magazine."  Mixmag was first issued in February 1983 and was published by DMC.  The magazine was then bought by EMAP in the mid-1990s before being bought by Development Hell in 2005.  Development Hell re-launched the magazine in was marketed much differently by Development Hell and the revamp in design helped to focus he magazine on a younger audience (both male and female) rather than the previously older audience it used to aim.  Also, in April 2009 they bought DontStayIn.com, the world's biggest clubbing social network.

I believe that Development Hell Ltd would be a good choice to publish my music magazine because, firstly, they stated in their business plan that they want to launch 3 magazines within 6 years and as of now they have only released 2.  This means that they will probably be looking for a 3rd magazine and as neither of them if focuses on rock music, my magazine might fit into their line-up very well.

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

Overall, my music magazine conforms to most music magazine conventions. The front cover has a large, stylised masthead at the top of the page which is made up of the word ‘Amped’ in a very grungy font. By adding shadow and some grunge brush strokes over the top, the masthead became more of a logo rather that just text. The issue number, website and date are places just to the right of the masthead, like on most music magazines.

My overall design was heavily influences from my research into current music magazines like Mojo and NME. I found through market research that people preferred a classy, professional design like Mojo and most people did not like the sometimes messy layout of magazines like NME. An example of a Mojo front cover that heavily influenced my choices is shown below, along side my magazine.

As you can see, the designs are very similar, with a black and white image for the background  which is relevent to the main anchor and bright colours for the title and other anchors to make the page more interesting. The anchors are made up of a title with a large font and a smaller tagline underneath, which gives the reader a small idea of what will be inside the issue. The barcode at the bottom of the page and the circular puff indicating the price of the magazine are two conventions of music magazines that I have decided to stick to with my magazine.  The use of an out of place colour for the background of the word exclusive is something that is often used on magazine covers, like on the Mojo magazine on the left.  The word exclusive is also a buzz word.  Buzz words are used often on magazines as they help to attract the users attention.

My double page spread is designed in a similar way to double page spreads in current magazines, like the front page. It consists of a large ‘main’ image and two smaller images with an article title and the article text. The main image has to been post-processed to give it a cross-processed look which makes the image look more stylised and interesting than a normal colour image would.  More examples of cross processed images can be seen here and here.  A screenshot of my double page spread is shown below.

The two smaller images have a thick, black border and have been rotated which makes them look like they are pictures that have been scattered on the page. The article text is put into several thin columns, which is generally the norm in music magazines. My design of this page is influenced from one of the double page spreads that I analysed, see here.

My contents page is styled similarly to my front cover with the same colour scheme used.  It is made up of a main title and date at the top of the page in a large font (the same fonts used on the front page.)  Below that there is a grey banner across the page with two images inside relating to the same article.  In the top right of the right hand image there is a page number and on the right hand image there is the word 'Exclusive' in a red font, as on the front cover.

Below the banner and image the page is split into two columns.  The left hand colums is made up of a title whcih is made up for a small rectangle and below that there is the page list, also in a rectange, but in a different colour.  The left hand column contain the 'features' of the magazine, which means that the article are new for this edition, and the right hand columns contains the 'regulars' which appear in the magazine every week.

How does your media products represent particular social groups?

As my magazine is mainly focused towards young males, it was important to represent them through the images and writing in my magazine.  The images in my magazine were of my friends band.  They are dressed stereotypically like members of a rock band would, with skinny jeans and checked shirts.  And although this is a very broad stereotype I still feel that just by looking at the dress of the people in my pictures, it is obvious to see what type of music they play.  I found out more about the people in my target market by reading the forums of music magazine MOJO, which my magazine was heavily influenced from.  The forums can be seen here.  By reading this forums I got to see what type of music and what interests my target market at into, which made it easier for me to write my articles.

Final Designs

After all this effort I have finally completed my final designs.  My final designs consist of a front page, contents page and a double page spread.  Images of them are shown below and larger images are available on clicking.

Front Cover

Contents Page

Contents Page Analysis: Drummer Magazine

The first contents page that I will be analysing is on from 'Drummer' magazine, which is a general music magazine which a more heavy focus on drums and percussion, including reviews and thoughts of the latest equipment.  The contents page is shown below.

The top left of the page contains the title and date of the page.  The word 'Contents' is written in a large white font which contrasts the red background well and the date is placed directly above it it a much large font but a much darker colour which makes it pair more with the red background rather than the title text.

The magazine logo, which is simply the word 'DRUMMER' in bold capitals, is placed just below the page title and the rest of the top third of the page is filled with three images.  The image to the right of the Drummer logo is a drum set, which relates directly the the main focus of the magazine and helps set the genre well.  The two other images are at the top of the page and are of two artists of which large articles are further into the magazine; there are page numbers in the top right of each image indicating where they can be found in the magazine.  Red boxes are used around the white font of the page numbers are used, as with the page title, to make them stand out.

Below this, on the right hand side, there is three other images.  A large (or main) image which shows Dave Lombardo during a live show.  The buzzword 'Exclusive' is shown to the right hand side of the image and overlaps into the left hand column of text and acts as an arrow to the relevant item in the contents list.  Using buzzwords like exclusive help grab the readers attention by telling them that this article can only be read in this magazine, this may persuade them to purchase the magazine.  Below the main image there are two smaller images, one of which shows another drummer during a live set and four members of a band.  All of these images are similar to the images at the top and also have page numbers in the top corner.

The left hand column of the page is the main contents list.  The list is split into two sections: Features and Regulars.  Features are articles that will differ each week, these mainly include band interviews.  The regulars on the other hand are articles that are shown in each issue of the magazine, the only thing that changes is their content.  The feature title are all in a fairly big black font with a large red page number to the right with a small description of what the article is about.  The regulars on the other hand are just small titles with no descriptions, this is because the editors probably expect most fairly regular buyers of the magazine to recognise the articles and to know what they are about.