Feature Article

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Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progession from it to full product?

In the progression from my preliminary task to my finished media product I have learnt a lot about photography, layout, fonts, modes of address, audience etc. 

In comparison from the beginning of the course with my preliminary product I have learnt how to assign pictures correctly to get the best effect and gain the attention of my audience. In my preliminary task I asserted the picture to the right of the front cover of my college magazine with cover lines down one side. I have improved my skills in my media product by centralizing my model on my front cover and putting cover lines around her. 

For my pictures, I have also learnt how to edit them in Photoshop to black and white to fit white my music magazine's theme of gothic rock and appeal more to my audience of the gothic sub-culture.

I also used different styles on Photoshop to make my text stand out against the picture background. I added a white glow behind my text so that it could be read clearly.

With the text I also learnt how to compress it closer together so it made it look more natural and fitted better on the page whereas on the preliminary task the errors where the text overlaps with the shape it's behind is very obvious.

I learnt how to use text boxes to write in so text would be in the structure I want and would not overlap with anything else on the page.

On Photoshop I also learnt how to add a drop shadow to images. This way I improved my contents page from the preliminary task I had done previously. I was able to add a copy of the front of the magazine in the corner of my contents page and with the drop shadow it could stand out against the other images on the page.

With my finished media product I had a wider range of age and gender for my target audience to work from. As I previously made a college magazine it was easy for me to understand my target audience and what would appeal to them, being of the same age. With my finished media product brought a new challenge for me and I found it very interesting to learn about the gothic-sub culture and how they are seen within their communities and outside. In my finished product I used a range of informal and formal language to appeal to my audience. I learnt how to make a magazine look more professional by researching products already made within the media.

 

 

Question 6: What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing this product?

The main technology product I used to create my media product is Photoshop CS6. I hadn't used this technology before the preliminary task we carried out in lesson at the beginning of the course. I felt very uncomfortable with this technology at first and still do not feel overly confident with it, however I feel as though my skills have dramatically improved from how they were originally. I used this technology only at college as it was not available for me at home so it has made it quite difficult for me to get work done on time or in advance. The Photoshop kit itself is very expensive although a tutorial can be downloaded, it doesn't last long.

From Photoshop I learnt how to change the colours of my text and shapes I used. I learnt how to use different styles to edit pictures and now to save those styles to repeatedly use them in my media product to show my house style and consistent theme throughout.

In Photoshop I learnt how to compress text closer together so it fit correctly onto a page. I also learnt how to edit the text by changing the colours and experimenting with fonts.

Other technology I used was Blogger. This was important for me to use as it was how I uploaded my evaluation, research and planning throughout the course. I had been used to using to social networking site Tumblr to blog about my interests but Blogger was completely different from that and very new for me. I found it very efficient and easy to use from the beginning. Another advantage is that it is completely free to use. The disadvantage is that the website is difficult to load on certain internet browsers such as explorer, so it is sometimes frustrating to upload coursework. It also meant that a lot of my work created in Photoshop had to be formatted to JPEG images to be uploaded successfully. As well as this, when using other websites to upload work on to move to my Blogger, I found it quite difficult to embed the correct codes and get them working.

Prezi is another form of technology I used to upload Question 1 of my evaluation on. I found it very confusing at first however I soon got used to it. I found Prezi to be a very fun and interesting way to present work on in comparison to simply uploading it onto Blogger as a word document. It was also completely free which gave it more of an advantage over other technology.

To take pictures for my media product I used my home camera which is a Nikon S5300 camera. Being my own camera, it was very straightforward to use and the pictures I produced were of a good quality. The disadvantage is that pictures need to be transferred onto a laptop or computer to be edited for my media product.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

The model I have used on the front cover of my media product is designed to attract mainly the female audience. I used a female on my front cover so my audience can be inspired by her, also her fashion stands out greatly which would attract my target audience of the gothic sub-culture who are interested in fashion and make up as well as gothic rock, which my magazine revolves around. Using a female on the front cover would also attract some male audience. My model is looking out to the distance and being very photogenic in the front cover for my music magazine, so my target audience would also be attracted to her professionalism. I decided to edit the front cover of my magazine so the image is in black and white as I considered colours to be less of an interest for Goths. On the front cover, the landscape can be seen and the location of the photo-shoot becomes clear with the display of gravestones in the background. This would attract my audience as the stereotypical Goth would be interested in such scenery.

The main point of my magazine is to outline the genre of gothic rock and gain my audiences interest as they would like this music most. The front cover also advertises free items within the magazine and competitions that can be won. This will attract my audience as they will want the prizes and freebies. As well as this, the cover lines highlight a variety of different artists that my target audience will be interested in along with information about fashion. Some of my cover lines on my music magazine use second person pronouns such as "Top 10 songs that will rock YOUR world this week" which would interest my target audience and lead to them wanting the magazine.

As a result from my audience question, I used only a few colours on my front cover such as red, pink, grey and black. I decided that colours would not interest my target audience as much but thought it would be good to highlight titles and make certain words on my front cover stand out by using a different colour. I decided that using light and dark colours fitted well with the gothic theme of my magazine so decided on using these simple colours which were also the most popular with my target audience. For my fonts I decided to use elegant and readable fonts such as Perpetua Titling MT Bold for the masthead. I used mainly informal language to attract my target audience to the front cover, as they would be young people of the age range 14-mid 30's.

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your product?

 

 

The Goths

Age: 14-25

Class: Middle/Working class

Gender: Mainly females
 

The specific target audience for my media product would Goths. Goths are people who wear heavy, dark make-up, pale their skin, wear dark clothes and wear bulky metal jewelry as influenced by the genre of music they listen to. They would listen to Gothic Rock bands such as The Cure, Evanescence, HIM and The Sisters of Mercy. As well as these artists, I think my target audience would be interested in popular groups such as The Beatles and Queen as well as modern artists like Green Day and My Chemical Romance. It's likely that my target audience would enjoy foreign music and explore different kinds of genres.

Goths are usually people who are original and rebel against society, it's most likely for my target audience to be out casted for the way they are and feel more comfortable with others similar as themselves.

Fashion-wise, my target audience would wear dark but extravagant clothes. The common Goth would be interested in big boots, laces, rips and corsets. Goths usually plaster their faces with a lot of extreme dark and bold make-up. I would expect my target audience to shop in smaller shops such as Dead Good and Drop Dead clothing. There's a chance they would visit antique stores to find accessories of unique kind and make items themselves.

 

I believe some of the interests of my target audience of Goths are listening to music, writing, reading and holding meetings with friends, such as tea parties to bond over their interests together. My target audience would probably watch Japanese anime, being less interested in soaps and regular TV dramas and more content with horror movies.

 

 

 

 

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I think my media product would be distributed by a smaller company due to my target audience only being small in size.

One smaller publishing company that could distribute my media product would be Imagine Publishing. There are only 20 different magazines this company distributes which are all of different genres such as SciFi Now, Now Gamer and History of War. If not a small publisher I think an independent publisher such as Clash would also be more suitable than a big company like Bauer. An independent publisher would also give more independence and freedom to the gothic sub-culture, so IPC could take my company on board.

My target audience of the Gothic sub-culture are not very large in comparison to other audiences such as Indies or hipsters, therefore a smaller company would be ideal although less magazines would be published, they would still reach out to my audience. It is rare to find a magazine like my media product which is based all upon the genre of Gothic Rock so I think my magazine would sell well for those who are interested in it.

Although my Magazine is suitable for being in stores as it uses informal language the audience would use and has a suitable image of an idol for them to be looking up to, depending on the lifestyle of my target audience and where they live, publishing would vary. If my target audience of Goths lived in more judgemental and religious parts of the country it could be dangerous for them to be seen buying my media product in a store. Therefore I think it would be best for my magazine to be distributed online. This way, as my target audience are of quite young ages, they could assess my media product better and safer. Being published online is also easier for Goths if they would rather not go outside and buy the magazine they are after.

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 

The particular social group my media product represents is the gothic sub-culture. Usually, Goths are seen as being lonely and depressed by society due to their dark clothing and heavy makeup. It could be seen as to gain attention from others but in reality Goths are happy and kind people that would rather be different from other people then follow the crowd or 'the norm'.

This particular social group range in age. Goths can be any age compared to other social groups such as hipsters who are usually younger people, but Goths most likely consist of the ages 14-mid 30's. I expect that Goths would be interested in Gothic Rock music as well as writing, reading and the

majority of artistic subjects such as drama and photography. Phychographically, Goths are aspirers of a kind who seek enlightenment within media products but society would see them more as strugglers who seek escape from reality. With this, I decided to show the gothic sub-culture more positively as I know many Goths are clever and want to achieve big things in their future, therefore I used a positive role model for my feature artist of my media product, for my target audience to look up to. Demographically Goths would come under class E as the majority are only students or workers. I think most Goths are women, therefore fashion and make up would be something they are interested in along with Gothic Rock, so I have also covered fashion in my cover lines on the front cover of my magazine. However, I think there are also many male Goths who would be interested in my media product for the music information so have included male and female artists.

I used a female role model for my Gothic audience to aspire to be like. My pictures focus a lot on my model's clothing that would interest the women. I decided to have a more medium shot for my front cover to show the landscape of gravestones in the background, of which my target audience would take an interest in. My model looks quite natural in these pictures with an expression of looking out to the distance to show her professional side. Throughout my media product I have edited the pictures black and white as I believe colours would not interest Goths so much. However, I have used a few, darker, colours to make certain things stand out. I have used mainly informal language for particular social group I am representing as they would be quite young. For my writing I have used a more interview-style for my feature article to make it more enjoyable as well as informative for my audience.

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Drawn Drafts of My Three Products

 

Audience Questionaire results and Analysis

 

From these results it is clear that the audience for my magazine will be people of both genders but mainly females. Although it is close with this question, females are only 10% higher than males so I need to bare this in mind and use language and pictures that are suitable for both when making my media product.

 

 

These results are as I expected of my target audience. The most popular response is "16-20" so my media product will be aimed at mainly for teenagers and young adults.

 

For my media product I am going to produce a music magazine of the genre gothic rock. Rock is among the 5 most popular genres as chosen by my audience in my questionnaire as it "other" which gothic rock would be specifically associated with.

 

It is obvious that my audience would rather pay £2 for a music magazine. £2.50 is also another response that gained attention from the audience asked and so, to make a profit with my media product, I will ask for £2.50 when my target audience buy it.

 

 

The colours Black, White, Red and Purple have been chosen most by my audience for attracting them to a music magazine. I will use these colours when making my media product. My pictures will all be in black and white to fit with the gothic theme of the magazine and appeal to my audience. I will use red and purple for body text and titles to stand out against the rest.

 

 

This is a result I expected from my audience questionnaire. The house style they would rather a music magazine be published with is informal or a mixture. I will use mainly informal and a mixture of formal and informal language when appropriate throughout my media product.

 

 

It is obvious that 'Monthly' is the most answered in this question asking how often my audience would like their ideal music magazine to be published. Therefore I will definitely imply that my magazine is published monthly to appeal to my audience. 

 

 

It is clear that my audience are mostly interested in watching TV. I will attempt to include some information about shows that may appeal to them in my music magazine. Playing games and fashion are also interests of my target audience so I will also try to include these to attract them even more so.

 

Location, Props and Costume Report

For my media product I decided that a grave yard would be a fitting location to take pictures for the front cover. I decided on this location as they it is usually sociated with my target audience of the gothic sub-culture. In my pictures I took, the gravestones in the background can be seen so my audience of goths would be interested in the front cover.

I decided to use a female model on my magazine as I expect both males and females would be interested in it. I think mainly females who read my magazine more so I thought it would be best to use someone of the same gender, for them to aspire to be like. I used fashionable clothing that my target audience would be interested in and possibly wear themselves, such as patterned shorts and a fluffy overcoat.

Original Images

Electronic Drafts Of My Magazine Pages

Magazine Publishers

 Bauer.

Bauer Media is a division of the Bauer Media Group; Europe’s largest privately owned publishing Group. The Group is a worldwide media empire offering over 300 magazines in 15 countries, as well as online, TV and radio stations. Among the magazines published by Bauer are Kerrang, Closer, Zoo, Q and Grazia. The group collectively employs around 6400 people. Bauer Media is a UK-based media group consisting of many companies mainly around two main divisions-Magazine and Radio. Bauer have representatives on all of the main platforms of media as some brands are magazines, radio stations and TV channels, e.g-Kerrang. They publish a range of genres, from music magazines, to sports and gossip magazines. The magazine heritage stretches back to 1953 with the launch of Angling Times. Today Bauer spans over 80 influential brand names covering a range of interests such as Parkers, MATCH!, CAR and Yours.

Time Inc. 

Time Inc. is an American New York-based publishing company which publishes over 90 brands. Some iconic magazines Time Inc. publishes consist of: Health, People, Country life and Travel and Leisure. Time Inc. is one of the world's leading media companies, with a monthly global print audience of over  120 million and worldwide digital properties that attract more than 120 million visitors each month, including over 50 websites-reaching over 140 million people through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ and YouTube. They are Britain’s leading publisher of print and digital magazine contents. Time magazine was co-founded in 1922 by Henry Luce and Briton Hadden. 

Outlook On The Magazine Business

All the 8000+ titles published in Britain can be separated into their own categories. These categories consist of consumer (sold in newsagents and available online), business/trade/professional/B2B (for the working class), staff magazines (to inform about their company, for the staff), newspaper supplements (come free with certain newspapers), part works (a number of issues which is built up into a type of ‘encyclopaedia’ on a specific topic) and academic journals (for university-level discussion). Consumer magazines make up the bulk of the titles for sale in newsagents. Like ‘Loaded’, ‘Elle’ or ‘Radio Times’ they may be aimed to entertain and inform or consumer specialist titles aimed at a specific interest or hobby like ‘Car’, ‘Total Film’ and ‘Gardeners’ World’. The biggest consumer magazine publishers by 2008 sales were Bauer Publishing with 25%, Time Warner with 20%, BBC with 7.8% and Hearst with 7.3%. There are over 3200 different consumer titles today in the UK with over 1.4 billion magazines being sold each year compared to 2.1 billion in 1970 and 1.2 billion in 1992. It is known that 85% of the population reads a magazine of some kind. Advertisers in 2008 spent £745 million in magazines. By the end of 2014 it is expected that more would have been spent of mobile advertising, which is set to surge by 83%. Consumers spend £2 billion on magazines annually. An average of 500 new magazines has been launched every year in the past decade, with only 3 in 10 titles surviving for more than 4 years. All media products emerge from a cultural context and society. An example can be shown in Cosmopolitan, which was launched in 1972 in the UK and offered women to a previously male world, giving more freedom and less dominance. Another example would be of Glamour magazine, which was launched in 2001 and is a way in front as the leading women’s monthly glossy. In the 2000s magazines such as Heat, Hello, OK and Grazia were launched, showing an ‘in-depth’ look at the shallow celebrity culture.

Analysis Of A Music Magazine Brand

The Kerrang brand was established over 30 years ago and is the biggest music weekly magazine in the world. Kerrang’s target audience are young people, therefore, as well as music releases. The typical reader would be a young male who loves music and enjoys talking about rock music and relating it to his hobbies, leisure time, attitudes, fashion sense and lifestyle. Readers would engage with music 24/7, if not listening to it constantly then they would be watching TV, discussing rock music with friends, attending gigs, playing instruments and dreaming about rock stardom. Kerrang also provide information about film and games, mobile technology and government messages. Kerrang writes mainly about the genre of rock music. The readers are the heaviest music consumers, purchasing over 6 albums per month on average and are 8 times more likely to spend over £200 a year on albums. The readers are also 5.5 times more likely to attend a rock gig. Kerrang offer a wide range of multimedia platform such as magazine, online, radio, TV, awards, tours and podcasts. Kerrang has been used by brands such as LG, Orange and National Express in the last 12 months. LG and Orange are a suitable consumer brand to mix with as they are phone networks, which relates to the target audience of young people that are interested in music as they will most likely provide themselves with a phone to stay in contact with others and gain access to music online or through the device. National Express is also suitable as the young audience that read the magazine will be the ones likely to use National Express to travel to gigs and go on tour. Kerrang online offer links to their Twitter and Facebook. On their social media sites they have 717K on Facebook and 535K followers on Twitter. This shows clearly just how popular Kerrang is with its young audience. As well as social media links there are also links to reading the magazine online, streaming TV and radio and a ‘win’ section. Kerrang hold competitions to win camcorders, CDs and tickets to see bands live. On the website for Kerrang they advertise their latest magazine issue and new releases.

Original Ideas Statement

For my music magazine I intend to explore the genres of rock and gothic rock. The target audience for my magazine will be mainly teenagers and young adults. The majority will likely be males who love rock and roll and dedicate their lives to music. The magazine will show new artists and advertise them to the target audience as well as give information on other well-known groups and new releases. My magazine’s front cover will show a new artist and feature some more recognisable people so it attracts my target audience. Colours I will use for my magazine will likely be mainly black, white, grey and dark red as to fit with the theme of gothic rock. I will use a range of informal and formal language for my target audience of teenagers and young adults so that it appeals to a wider range of people.

Fonts Moodboard

 For my fonts, I came up with a range and experimented to see what was most fitting for my target audience and theme of my magazine. I decided to use elegant and dark concepts for fonts to match the Gothic Rock theme. The fonts I used most were CHARLEMAGNE STD BOLD and GOUDY OLD STYLE as I found these fonts most fitting to the theme as well as being most simple to understand when reading.

Colours Moodboard

For my colours I decided that dark and pale colours would be best to use to fit my theme.  As well as dark and pale colours I thought that using some bright colours to attract the audience’s attention were also necessary so I decided to use a few that went best with the darker colours I used. As an outcome I used mostly black, red, medium grey, pale pink and purple. This colours are mostly present of the front cover and contents page with more purple on my feature article to differentiate from the artist and interviewer.

Advertisements Moodboard

For my advertisements I decided on a range of different companies and shops that my target audience would be interested in. As my target audience are people of quite a young age I thought that many multimedia websites and technology devices would appeal to them most. I also considered food to appeal to my target audience of a young age so decided that places such as KFC, McDonalds and Subway would be good for advertising in my magazine. As well as this I considered my target audiences interests, such as shopping, listening to music and watch movies. From this I decided that Beats, Skullcandy, Marvel and Netflix etc would interest my audience if advertised in my magazine. When deciding on advertisements for my magazine I considered the fashion of my target audience so thought popular gothic stores would be ideal to advertise.

Target Audience Moodboard

I decided that my target audience would be mainly young men and woman who have an interest in rock and gothic rock. In this mood board I wanted to portray the different fashion sense, music taste and interests that my audience have. My target audience would be interested in popular gothic rock and rock artists as well as less popular and foreign music. In this mood board for my target audience it is clear the different settings and clothing that my target audience would feel most comfortable in. It is also clear, through different symbols, the attitudes my target audience have against the world they are in. As well as listening to rock music, there are pictures on this mood board which suggest what my target audience do in their free time with friends, such as shop and holding parties together.