My Potential Models For My Music Magazine

My first potential model is called Dana. I think Dana would be great for my magazine as she loves to listen to pop music. Dana is 17 years old, therefore she is a mature pop lover- her age also fits well with my target audience as my magazine is for ages 17- early 20's. Dana's extremely bubbly and chatty, therefore her personality suits  my magazine perfectly, she also loves to keep up with the latest fashion trends. I decided that using Dana as a model may not be as effective as I thought. Although Dana loves pop music- I don't 100% believe that her looks suit my magazine- this is because to me (judging by looks) Dana gives off a somewhat punk rock vibe as she has very dark hair and she wears thick, dark eyeliner. Nevertheless, I put this idea aside and continued experimenting taking pictures of Dana-  I will post these images as a separate blog post.

My second potential model is Georgie. I think Georgie would be perfect for my magazine because she's extremely fashionable and she loves the genre pop. As well as this, Georgie is also extremely photogenic, therefore her appearance is perfect for the magazine that I'm trying to produce. Georgie is also in the age range for my magazine.

 My third potential model is Hollie. Hollie is perfect for my magazine as she loves pop bands such as One Direction, Union J and The Saturdays. Much like Georgie and Dana, Hollie is also naturally photogenic, therefore she's perfect for my magazine. Hollie also loves to keep up with the latest clothes trends as she's extremely fashionable. 

My fourth potential model is India. India is extremely photogenic and she has a lovely white smile- most models in pop magazines seem to have perfect teeth, so India suits this perfectly. India's favourite music genre is also pop, she loves One Direction, Taylor Swift and Ella Henderson. As well as this India is also extremely fashionable, therefore I think she's a perfect model for my magazine. 

My fifth potential model for my magazine is Jess. Jess is 18, therefore she's in my age range for my magazine. She loves listening to pop music, and much like other pop lovers she is extremely chatty and bubbly- her personality matches my magazine perfectly. Jess is also extremely naturally photogenic with her blonde hair and her big blue eyes, therefore I think she's going to be a great model for my magazine. 

My final model for my magazine is Lisa. She is 25, therefore I consider her to be just outside the age range for my magazine. Nevertheless, Lisa loves pop bands such as The Saturdays and Little Mix. She is also tall, slim and photogenic, which is a generic convention of a magazine model. I decided that I would avoid using Lisa as one of my models- this is because due to her age, even though she looks relatively young, it may not suit my target audience. As well as this, Lisa was unavailable for an experimental photo-shoot, therefore I was unable to see whether or not the images I would have produced would be suitable enough for my magazine.

My Music Magazine Mock Up

Here is my mock up front cover of my music magazine. I've decided I want to use the colours Red and Black for my masthead because I think it connotes maturity yet amusement. I have also decided to use a large central image which takes up the majority of the page- this image will be a similar style to the central image from 'Billboard' magazine. My model will be looking directly into the camera.

Here is my music magazine contents page. I've decided I'm going to have a section where I'll introduce my audience to my magazine and myself. I will do this by including an image of me (the editor) and information about myself and what this issue of my magazine consists of. 

Here is my double page spread for my music magazine. I have decided to use a large background image which bleeds across the two page. I have also decided to use a few smaller images in a collage-like form, they do this in 'Top Of The Pops', I think this is more appealing for the audience as in my previous audience feedback I found that my target audience prefer to have a more than one image. 

My Pitch Audience Feedback- Lisa Rudd, Luke Taylor, Dana Kemp and Jess Moore

Here is some more audience feedback for my pitch idea. Yet again, my audience didn't want to be physically recorded, therefore I was only allowed to record their voice. Here is a summary of my audience feedback from Lisa:
- Doesn't think I should use any of my chosen names as they have the word 'pop' in them, therefore it makes the magazine seem quite immature- which wouldn't suit the target audience.
- need to use colours which will stand out, not primary colours though as they're associated with the younger.
- If wanting to use a larger image then bleed it across the page, however if it's a smaller image then space it out because then you've got more space to work with.



2. Here is my audience feedback for my pitch ideas. Unfortunately due to technical difficulties the quality of the sound isn't very good and my audience decided that they didn't want to be seen in the video.
Summary of this audience feedback: -none of my possible names are effective because they all sound reasonably mature, so it wouldn't suit my target audience.
- They suggested I use 'pastel' and 'vibrant' colours in my magazine.
- For it to suit my target audience they suggested I had a more mature element to it (maybe involving relationships etc)
- For my double page spread they layout should be in columns as they are more organised and they look more mature due to it looking more sophisticated.

My Pop Music Magazine Pitch

Time Management Update

I am currently up to date with all of my posts. I will focus on summarising the pitch feedback that I received from my target audience. I will then focus on creating a style sheet and mock ups of my music magazine's front cover, contents page, double page spread and my photography ideas.

We love Pop- Double Page Spread Analysis

I decided to do some research into a magazine with the same genre as me- Pop. I decided by analysing 'We <3 Pop's double page spread it would help me gain some ideas for my music magazine.

Billboard Content Analysis

Top Of The Pops- Double Page Spread Analysis

Here is my Top Of The Pops double page spread analysis. By analysing double page spreads it's began to give me ideas of how I would like my magazine to attract the audience in multiple ways. For example, the images, colours, fonts and cheeky phrases.

Top Of The Pops- Contents Page Analysis

Analysing Billboard Magazine

Analysing Top Of The Pops

Billboard Magazine Research Powerpoint

Initial Ideas For My Music Magazine.

Here are my Initial Ideas for my music magazine. I focused on specific features of my magazine, such as: The audience, the Content, the Mode Of Address, the Institution and the House Style.

In order to see the variety of music magazine genres/ sub-genres, I decided to do some research. Here are some of the genres I found. I will base my magazine on one of these genres.

Variety Of Music Magazines

In order to make a successful Music Magazine I decided to research those for sale on the market at the moment. From this I will look at the generic conventions of a music magazine and I will apply these when I come to make mine so mine is just as professional. 

My Music Magazine Action Plan

6th October
I will post my Initial ideas for my music magazine to my blog. As well as this I will post my institution research. I will then research my chosen subgenre and I'll post two analysed front covers from my chosen subgenre to my blog. 

13th October
I'll research my chosen subgenre by analysing 2 contents pages and 2 double page spreads-I will then post this to my blog. I am then going to develop my pitch using Prezi.

20th October
I will present my pitch and post it to my blog, as well as my audience feedback. I will also complete my mock-ups of my magazine pages and I will produce a style sheet which will reflect my brand identity/ house style of my magazine. I will also organise models, locations, props and I'll organise my photoshoot. I will then update my blog with my current progress.

3 November
At this point I'll begin designing my magazine. I will experiment with Indesign and develop my front cover by adding pictures from my photoshoot. I will also experiment with the layout, colour, font, language and other photos.

10 November
I'll continue designing my front cover. I'll  continue experimentation with the layout, colour, font, language and photos.

17 November
At this stage I will begin designing my contents page. I will develop this by experimenting with layout, colour, font, language and photos.

24 November
I will start designing my double page spread. I will do this by experimenting with layout, colour, font, language and photos.

1 December
I will gain feedback from my audience on my magazine, from this I will continue to develop my magazine in response to the feedback given.

8 December
I will finalise my magazine design of all pages,

15 December- 29 December
I will prepare for my evaluation by developing a draft evaluation.

5 January
I will develop my evaluation.

12 January
I will complete my evaluation and do my final blog check,

23 January
FINAL DEADLINE.

Introduction to brief

I am going to produce a front page, contents page and a double page spread of a new music magazine. In order to do this effectively I plan on doing a lot of research, so my music magazine is as professional as I can possibly make it.

My Evaluation Of My Student Magazine

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

In order to try and make my magazine as professional as possible I carried out some research and noted down the generic conventions- I referred back to this throughout making my product in order to make sure my student magazine was as successful as I could. From this I continued to use a maximum of 4 consistent colours throughout my magazine; the colours I chose connote fun and calmness. I also included multiple relevant pictures in my magazine which I believe would relate to the target audience and attract their attention. I also included many free give-aways/ student discounts as these are extremely common in a standard student magazine, and it also tempts people to pick up a copy.  My mode of address was also quite chatty and informal, therefore resulting in the target audience feeling more at ease and relatable with my magazine. My central image on my mass head was of a student looking at a computer screen, this connotes intelligence. I think by using a fellow student as my central image my target audience may feel like they can relate to my magazine, therefore attracting their attention towards it. The name of my student magazine was ‘Stu-don’t stress’, I believe this name automatically offers reassurance towards my target audience as it’s directly addressing them due to the word ‘stu-don’t’ being extremely similar to the word ‘student’. This name also gives an idea to what’s going to be inside of my student magazine; therefore my target audience may turn to my student magazine when they’re looking for advice/help.

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

My magazine was aimed at students aged 16-18, this is due to me believing I know quite a lot about the social group because I am in that age range. In order to represent this social group I have made sure to use a chatty mode of address, this offers a bond between me and the reader as I am talking to them as if I am on the same level, therefore avoiding them feeling uncomfortable. I have also used many images which include students in, therefore the target audience should know that my magazine is based for people in their social group. As well as this, I have used youthful colours such as pink, purple and yellow which connote fun and enjoyment. I also made sure my magazine was free, this was because during my research I found that most students agreed that they were more likely to read a magazine if it was free, as well as this students also tend to lack money, therefore by making my magazine free it is more beneficial for the target audience.

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

I think colleges/sixth forms might distribute my magazine as it’s specifically aimed at students in that age range. Also a lot of the stories inside consist of student related issues, therefore I don’t think it would be very necessary/ relevant to distribute my media product away from schools/colleges as the older/younger generation would simply not be interested in the issues covered inside.

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

I aimed for my media product to be just as appealing for boys and girls at ages 16-18. I have tried to offer a range of stories to attract this audience, for example I haven’t based any of the magazine on fashion as I believe that this would only be attractive for girls, therefore I avoided this idea completely. Instead I decided to use not so gender stereotypical stories, for example I involved a story based on the new subway and I also used a picture of a girl and a boy which linked to my cover story about giving advice, therefore my audience should feel reassured that the advice given is not only from a female perspective, but from a male’s perspective too.

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

I attracted my audience through my house style. I tried to use eye-catching, yet not so in your face colours, which I believed would appeal to my target audience. The colours I used connoted fun, yet sophistication. I also tried to use reasonably larger fonts which mirrored students handwriting style, I did this in order to create a link with students to my magazine- this not only made the audience feel more ‘at home’, but it would also give my target audience an idea that my magazine was aimed at students like  them. I also used a student as my central image, therefore automatically relating to my target audience; this also gives an idea to the audience that my magazine consists of student related features. As well as this I also focussed on my Mode of address- I tried to make my magazine as chatty and informal as possible. I did this by adding ‘gossip’ which is generally seen as a teenage term, therefore this attracted my target audience as students tend to love gossiping and they would be intrigued in what the ‘gossip’ is about. As well as this I included continuity of my masthead on my contents page, this makes my audience revisit the brand identity of my magazine and the name.

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

In order to successfully make my student magazine cover and content I used a programme called InDesign. I found this programme reasonably difficult when I first began experimenting on it as I didn’t really understand the use of ‘layers’; however once I got used to using all the different tools it began to become a lot more easier. I believe that this was an extremely useful programme when it came to making my magazine look reasonably professional looking.  I also used a digital camera to take pictures to include in my magazine. I also found this quite difficult at the start as I wasn’t too sure about the use of angles and lighting, however with a bit of practise and experimentation I managed to take some reasonably effective images to use in my magazine. 

My Final Product