Evaluation question 1

Evaluation question 2

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

 My magazine is targeted at people who are interested in up and coming artists as well as established artists. The genre my magazine is based on is varied as it includes acoustic artists as well are indie artists, but could be classed as indie alternative overall. This kind of music isn't too heavy so I wanted to keep my magazine simple, thus keeping with the simplicity of music included. I feel having minimal text, mainly placed down the left hand side of the cover makes it look simple as it isn't randomly placed around the page. 

I feel that including up and coming artists was the main way I was able to attract my social group as a lot of indie artists are mainstream. I used a simplistic style throughout my magazine, by keeping the text on the contents page to a minimum and in different sections. I feel the different sections would be something that would entice this social group as it includes announcements that would enable them to find out about new music. The 'feature' section would also attract this social group as it shows who are the main known and up and coming artists in this issue. I continued with the simple layout on the double page spread by including a small introduction of the artists then three simple columns, I feel the select on images on the double page spread adds to the laid back feel of the magazine as it doesn’t look like the artist is taking herself too seriously. The overall style of the magazine is simple and laid back and I feel that it represents the social group I was aiming at it. 

My target audience is 16 -24 year old males and females. If I had to attach a stereotype to the social group that would read my magazine I'd say they were indie. I believe this as the kind of music included wouldn't be described as mainstream, so therefore would suite the indie style of music so would represent indie social group. I wanted to give my magazine a laid back feel in order to attract my target reader, I feel most of the music included in my magazine is very laid back and for that reason wanted the style of the magazine to be laid back as well. When writing my double page spread I tried to keep it laid back, I did this by not being overly formal in the language used, for example “We jumped at the opportunity to have a one on one chat “I feel this gives the article a relaxed and friendly feel, therefore not coming across to formal and serious.

 I also represented my social group through the clothes the artist wore on the cover and double page spread. As previously stated I wanted my magazine to have relaxed, friendly feel, to represent my chosen social group and therefore I needed to make sure the clothes my artists wore fitted this style. I wanted the outfits to be more relaxed and causal to show the relaxed nature of the interview on the double page spread and therefore represent the relaxed nature of the reader and the magazine. The outfits shown are both somewhat mainstream fashionable and therefore will be a good representation of my indie social group, as the clothes they wear are fashionable, but wouldn’t be considered mainstream. I like the printed silk blouse as although it’s dressy and wouldn’t be classed as casual I think it works with the simple hair and makeup on the artist, therefore still fitting the style I wanted for the magazine.

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation Question 3

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

I feel that Bauer Media Group would be the best institution to distribute my magazine. Bauer currently publishes a variety of magazines varying from music magazines; Q and Kerrang to easy reading magazines like Closer and Heat. I feel that this shows Bauer can successfully distribute a variety of magazine, therefore making me feel that they would be the best institution to distribute my magazine. In regards to the music magazines, Bauer currently publish two magazines that vary in audience type. Kerrang appeals to more of a niche market than Q does. Kerrang specialises in rock music, where as Q targets a wider range of readers as it features artists from Jay -Z to Muse. 

 These magazines have a strong following so it would be a good company to publish my magazine as its obvious they can produce successful magazines. I feel that my magazine would have a niche market as it includes artist that not many people would have heard of as I haven’t focused on including a majority of mainstream artists. My magazine is mainly targeted at younger audience and for that reason I feel Bauer would be the right company to publish my magazine as a lot of the magazines they publish are targeted at a more mature audience for example Mother and Baby magazine. The fact that my magazine is targeted at a younger audience would enable Bauer to reach out to more readers, thus making the company more successful. 

 Q is mainly focused at a male audience, whereas my magazine would sometimes target more of a female audience, though still accessible to males. I also personally feel that Kerrang is more targeted at men, so my magazine being targeted at women would enable Bauer to reach out to a new audience of music magazine readers. 

 Bauer publish magazine that are published on a weekly and monthly basic. My magazine would be published on a monthly basis so I feel that it'll show readers that it’ll be on similar standard to Bauer’s other monthly publications ( Q magazine.) Kerrang advertised a lot of clothing companies that the readers of the magazine would buy. I would rather have companies in my magazine that will advertise upcoming events like gigs and festivals. I would also include adverts for new musical releases such as albums and singles, due the my magazine being a music magazine it was give readers even more chance to find out about new music. I feel that having my magazine distributed by Bauer would be good as they endorse magazine that people know and are happy to buy on a regular basis. Their music magazines like Q and Kerrang that have a strong following every time they are released, therefore showing the quality of magazines Bauer produce. Overall my magazines differs from the majority of magazines Bauer publish, but still targets a niche audience like one of their currently published music magazines, therefore I feel that Bauer would be the best institution to distribute my magazine.

Evaluation question 4

Evaluation quesion 5

5. How did you attract/address your audience? 

My audience is 16 - 24 females and males. The young age range helped me when planning my magazine my friends and I fit into this age range, so therefore I already had some understanding in what young people would want to see in a music magazine. I personally feel that even though my magazine is aimed at males and females, I feel that this cover will attract more females than males due to having a female on the cover. The images of the cover star within the magazine give off a girly vibe, therefore reinforcing the attraction to a female market. The colour scheme of white and black is unisex so won't draw one group of people to the cover more than another. 

The text included on the cover will my audience as it includes a lot of artists that my target audience would listen to, therefore attracting them to read my magazine. The audience I'm trying to target are people who enjoy listening to unknown artists, as well as known artists. ‘Women in music’ would obviously attract a female audience, but I feel this is okay as the inclusion of the artist included within the magazine would also attract a male reader. A lot of unknown / up and coming artists post music on social networking sites like Facebook, twitter and YouTube, since the majority of people who use these sites are young adults means my target audience will always be looking for new artists and placing them in a magazine will only enable them to find more artists. Therefore I believe including an up and coming artists on my cover would be an attractive feature when readers see the magazine cover.

I decided not to include large amounts of text on my contents page, as not only did I not like how it looks, as I feel it looks cluttered, but I also think it makes it simpler for the reader to get to the point and find the page they want easily without the distraction of large amounts of text on the page. I included four images on the contents page, two of which were of the artist on the cover. The other two of different artists that would be included in my magazine. I feel that this would attract my target audience as the images will draw the attention as they may already know the artist or they may wonder who they are and it would convince them to continue reading the magazine. I sectioned off the contents page in to four sections to make it simple and fast for the reader to find the bit they're looking for. I feel that this would suit a young audience as they are normally busy and making it easy for them to find the sections they want to read. I feel it helps attract a range of 16- 24 years olds as the 'announcements' section will attract reads who like going to festivals and gigs and the 'reviews' section will attract readers who are looking for new music and people’s opinions on music. 

My double page spread would attract a young audience as the interview style isn't too busy and makes it look appealing as the reader can select the questions they want to read. I personally feel this suits my target audience as I personally would prefer to read an interview that would enable me to learn more about an artist than a long winded article. The smaller closing paragraph gives the reader chance to find out more about the artist and I feel this would attract my target audience as it gives them the chance the find out more about that particular artist if they decide to. The pull quote used draws the reader in, giving them a little insight in to the article. The images on the double page spread would attract my target audience as its eye catching due to the fact it isn’t what you would normally expect to see. I play around with the page and my audience feedback from my target audience lead me to believe this would be the best way to attract my target audience. This is because I was giving feedback that suggested in comparison the single image double page spread looked dull and boring. This helped me when addressing my audience as my target audience is young, so therefore would want something interesting and fun, not young and boring.

Evaluation question 6

Evaluation question 7

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

When creating my preliminary task I feel that not having a good plan held me back and lead to my preliminary task not being as good as it possibly could be. I feel that I have managed to overcome this problem when creating my final product, thus making my magazine a lot better. I feel I had a plan for every aspect of my magazine; this made the process far easier. 

 Since creating my preliminary task I feel I've learnt lot about creating a good magazine. I don't feel like I put a lot of effort into making my preliminary task look good. The images I took weren’t well plan or shot, therefore I believe this held my preliminary back from being as good as it could have been. I also feel that I didn't take into consideration the style of magazine when creating the contents page as the information I included was basic. 

I comparison I feel like learnt to take a lot more into consideration when creating my final product. I did a lot of research on current music magazines in order to make sure my magazine would look like a real music magazine. I have learnt that selecting the correct images is important when creating my final product even though I am not 100% happy with how my images turned out I feel like I successfully worked with what I had. I think the images I used of different artists worked well as it showed the readers that the magazine would feature more than one artist. I also feel like the editing and style of the image on the double page spread worked well. I have learnt that the style and way the text and images are put across is extremely important when trying to attract readers. In my preliminary task I feel like I didn't take much consideration when placing the text, therefore I looked for inspiration when deciding how to place the text, later on taking inspiration from Dazed and Confused and Wonderland magazines. I feel that my understanding of different magazines was helped me when designing the style of my magazine as I wanted to create a contemporary music magazine rather than a generic on. This meant I spent more time looking at magazines like i-D than magazines like Q. I took inspiration from the simplistic style of i-D magazine covers. I think that it’s obvious that I researched magazines a lot as the differences between the contents pages in my preliminary tasks differs greatly to my final piece as I looked at a considerable amount of music magazines and took inspiration on how to make my final contents page look good. My preliminary contents page was empty and lacked information that you would expect in a magazine contents page. I feel that I learnt the importance of filling the contents page to attract more readers to the magazine. 

• I don’t think the image is taken well enough to be on the cover 

• The text is randomly places around the cover and looks unorganised 

• I don’t think the colours used works well, I don’t think the colours are eye catching enough 

• The images included on my contents could of been edited better, they just look like they are randomly placed 

• There’s a lot of white space, which makes the contents page appear empty 

• I feel that the text is now placed a lot better. I prefer it all being grouped together as it looks more organised and put together. I also feel it fits the contemporary theme of my magazine 

• The images used fits the style of the magazine better than the image did for my preliminary task. 

• The colour scheme of white and black is aesthetically pleasing. I feel it goes well with the clothing the artists are wearing. As well as the contemporary laid back style of my magazine. I took inspiration for my colour schemes from magazines like Faul and Wonderland 

Overall I feel I’ve learnt a lot in the time between creating my preliminary task and creating my final piece. I spent far longer planning and researching when creating my final piece. I believe this was key to improving the standard of my magazine from what it was during my preliminary task to what it is now.

Pictures I didnt use and why

Below are a range of images I decided not to use in my final work. I feel these pictures didn’t turn out as well as well as the others and for the reason I decided not to use them. I didn’t use the first two as I feel the woods in the background don’t fit the style for a music magazine. I didn’t use the third as I don’t think the angle worked well. I didn’t use the last two as I didn’t like how the models were standing. I also didn’t like the clothes the models are wearing in the last image as it didn’t work well with the other images and text on the contents page

Completed Magazine

Audience feedback on cover and double page spread

Plan for pictures

Plan for pictures

Main model: Chloe

Location for taking the pictures:  outside, hopefully against a plain wall. The wall shouldn’t be completely white, maybe grey. (Walls on the exam building will do) #

Style of the pictures:  I want to pictures to mimic the Zooey Deschanel issue of allure magazine so my model will be pulling a different funny face in each picture. The majority of the pictures I will take will be mid shot as I think this will look good on my double page spread. Will also take some close ups and long shots just to allow myself a range of images when making my magazine.

Outfit: I want Chloe to wear simple clothes, possibly plain white t shirt. I also want a more eye catching outfit, maybe a dress or more eye catching top.

 I’ll be using 3 of my friends for the pictures on my contents page.  I’ll be using a plain white wall inside my house to take these images. One of the images will be of a band as I think it’ll look better to have a picture of two people rather than just images of one person. I also want to make sure I have an image of a male on my contents page so my magazine doesn’t just consist of girls.

 

I took some pictures of another one of my friends that I decided not to use as I feel they didn't fit in well with the other pictures I had decided to use on my magazine. I took the said images against a brick wall and I really felt that they didn't look right in my final product

 

 

Article for double page spread

With a platinum selling debut album and another highly anticipated one on the way Alexz Johnson is well on her way to dominating the music industry. After being spotted on YouTube in 2009 Alexz Johnson music has gone from strength to strength. We jumped at the opportunity to have a one on one chat with the Grammy nominated artist.

 How’re you finding your rapid journey to the top of the music industry?

 It’s been crazy, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing. Everyone who posts videos on YouTube hopes to get signed and I was just lucky enough for it to happen. I’d been doing small shows in local bars for years, but now I’m headlining sold out stadium tours. Everything has happened so fast and sometimes you just have to take a minute to sit back and reflect on everything that has happened. In this business you have to make the most of everyday and every opportunity you get, because no one knows how long it will last.

 How would you describe your new album?

 I feel that this album will be as true to me as my first album, there’s always the possibly that artists will sell themselves out in order to sell the most records. That won’t happen to me. I have some amazing collaborations on the album that I’m really excited for everyone to hear. My favourite is ‘Irresistible’ which features Michael Grubbs from the band Wakey! Wakey! it differs slightly from the other songs on the album, but I’m hopeful that people will like it. In general the album is very laid back and relaxed. All the songs have a personal meaning.

 Whats your main inspiration?

 As much as I hate to say it my main inspiration is relationships. I feel that any relationship whether good or bad are important. I don’t feel I’m one of those artists who just write about the negative aspects of a break up or relationship, I like to write about the happy side of a relationship as well as the bad side. Relationships aren’t all that inspire me thought. My song ‘Brooklyn’ was inspired by how I missed home and comfortable environments while I was on tour. 

 You said you missed home, so how’re you adjusting to life on the road? 

 It’s defiantly difficult, but overtime I’m adjusting to it. I’m lucky enough that I can bring my boyfriend on tour with me so I’m not alone. I’ve also become really close with all the people who work on the tour. We’re like one big family now. So even though I get homesick from time to time it’s really not that bad. My tour bus is also filled with things from my house, so it feels like a little home away from home.

 Who are your musical inspirations?

 I’m lucky that I got to work with a lot of my musical influences on my new album. Michael Grubbs is one of my biggest musical inspirations and I feel blessed that I got to opportunity to work with him on this album. My other main musical inspiration is Ron Pope and I was again lucky enough to work with him on the track ‘nothing’ on his new album. I really enjoy working with people who inspire me as I feel it makes the whole process of creating an album more fun as you can constantly bounce ideas of one another and gain more inspiration. I’m also widely influenced by Brooke Fraser and Delta Goodrem as I feel their music always has such a personal feel and that’s something I always hope to have in my music. 

 Do you have any collaborations on the cards? 

 Defiantly! I’m working with people right now on some collaboration I’m really excited about. I have two collaborations on my upcoming album; one with Michael Grubbs and another with a good friend of mine; Saul Ashby, they both differ from the rest of the songs on my album, so I’m looking forward to seeing people’s reactions once they’re released. My dream collaboration would defiantly be with either Ed Sheeran or Gary Lightbody as I’m extremely influenced by their music.

 What can people expect from you in the future?

 First and foremost people can expect my new album ‘American Dreamer.’ I’m also at the beginning stages of planning a tour for the start of next year. I do hope that in the future I can go back towards my musical roots and do smaller, more intimate shows.

 Do you have any advice to give to our readers?

 The most important thing is to not give up, I know that’s what everybody says but if you give up it’ll never happen. Sometimes you have to work hard to get what you want out of life. I was lucky; being spotted took a lot of the hard work out of the equation. But if you truly want to make it in the music industry you have to work for it and be willing to sacrifice things to get there. 

 Alexz’s album ‘American Dreamer’ is set for release 25th of March. Make sure to check out her website www.alexzjohnson.com and well as our website www.inluxx.com for more behind the scenes information 

 *there may be slight differenes in the final copy due to editing*

Plan for cover, contents and double page spread

I decided to create a plan for my cover, contents and double page spread. I was struggling to write my article so I decided to create a list of possible questions that I may include in my article. The list also included other ideas of things I wanted to include on my double page spread. This made it easier for me when writing my article. As this made it easier for me to write my article I decided to do it for the cover and contents as well. This meant that when I came to constructing my magazine I would have all my ideas in front of me that I could work off of.

Audience research

I conducted audience research on the designs I had for my contents page. I did this so I could find out which design my target audience (16-19) liked the most. The above PowerPoint shows the example of the contents page design. as well as responses the people I surveyed gave me

Digital magazine plan

Music playlist

Below is a playlist as well as a selection of video from artists I want to include in my magazine

Where I am ( week commencing 10th February)

I have now finished all my research and planning, so am now getting prepared to make my magazine.

I have decided on my models, as well as taking a couple of live pictures at a recent concert that I may use in my contents page. I'm currently deciding on the text that will make up my contents page, I'm doing this early on in the process as I feel I would struggle if I left it to the last minute as I want to make it as full as possible so it looks the best it can be. I've also started to write my article, I've decided to do a interview on my double page spread as I think it would be more interesting to do that a review or other type of article. 

Viktor Vauthier Photography

Viktor Vauthier is one of my favourite photographers. I love the way he captures the emotion of the models in his pictures with a great edge, I also really like the neutral tones of his images. His choice of models always really interests me, they are all naturally beautifully and he manages to capture this so well. Vauthier always seems to use Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory within his photography. This is where the image that is taken is viewed in a way that a hetrosexual male would look at a female, although this can relegate women to the status of being an object, Vauthier pulls this off brilliantly in a non-sexist way. As much as I love Vauthier's photpgraphy style I feel this could be hard to produce myself in a similar way, as i have many more limitations (location, model, equipment, costume etc). The lighting and set within his images can be quite stark and unforgiving with the models, this is something I must keep in mind when taking my photographs if I do it in the same style as Vauthier (studio versions in particular- white background).

Magazine Plan