Layout of magazine pages

I chose to make this blog post in order to reflect upon how the plans of my contents page, front cover and double page spread have been adapted and altered. In this task I can both present my initial plans as well as being able to make the comparison between the plan to my final product. 

Since the planning stage a lot has changed throughout my magazine. I have altered the layout slightly and cut out certain features, for example the puff. I believe however that having a plan like these have been really helpful in the design aspect of the product and have been highly beneficial when I am unsure about certain aspects. The contents page has changed as well, for example the images have been placed differently and the articles and page numbers take up much more space than planned. There have been multiples issues I have addressed, however the plan has just been a skeleton for the product and it is easily altered. It was never set in stone and and made as a rough outline to change but give me a rough idea. This task did give me a rough idea of what to create but due to the lack of detail etc i had to add a lot to get it up to the standard that it should be, which would have been easier with a more detailed plan but this still helped and was worth doing. 

House styles

In this task i decided to do some research into the house style that tends to be on the magazine cover that attracts my target audience. I chose to use the magazine billboard as they have the same target audience as me and therefore my magazine should look similar to theres, which can be done through using a similar house style. Mainly billboard use a house style that is quite simple, few cover lines and a bold main image. This task has helped me because i know what house style my magazine cover should have and in turn what magazine cover house style my target audience most like as bill board are a very well established, successful company and so if i use some of there aspects it should be successful.

audience feedback for colour scheme and fonts

In this task I asked my target audience what colour scheme they think my magazine should be and why but also the fonts that they they think should be on my magazine cover and why. I then filmed them saying what they thought and edited this in an app called 'iMovie'. this task will hep me because i have found out what colours stand out to them and what fonts they most like n magazines so i will be able to appeal to them to the best of my ability and generate sales within my target audience.

Fonts and colours scheme

In this task I was asked to come up with potential colour schemes that my magazine front cover could have, potential fonts that it could have and potential house styles that it could have. I came up with a few different ideas for each aspect and put them into a prezzi so I can then present them all to my target audience and get there feedback on what they like most, to then incorporate into my final product.This task has helped me because I have come up with potential fonts that can be used on my front cover as well as colour schemes and it is now also all in one place, ready for my target audience to look through and choose what part of each aspect they like most and would most attract and appeal to them, so I can use there comments in the real thing to appeal to my target audience as much as possible.     

Potential article feedback

In this task, i took the mind map that i had previously created about potential articles that could be used on my double page spread and went to people from my target audience and asked what ones they would like most to read in a magazine on a double page spread. I then filmed there responses and edited them together using the programme, 'iMovie'. This task has helped me because i know what interests my target audience the most and what they would most like to read on a double page spread so i can now incorporate this into my final product to appeal to my target audience to the best of my ability as i am getting what i am including directly from them.
In conclusion, i have found out that the most liked article ideas were interviews, music festivals and music industry, although many were mentioned whilst interviewing my target audience such as concert scenes, top music charts and album reviews. I will therefore take everything my target audience has said into consideration when choosing my articles to write on my double page spread, this will ensure my magazine will appeal to my target audience because they have chosen what the articles are on.

Potential article ideas

In this task I will be coming up with potential articles that I could use in my double page spread that i will later go on to create as my final product.

 I have produced a time-lapse of my different ideas in a mind map so i can now go and ask my target audience for there feedback on what they like, which i will then incorporate in my final product. This task has helped me to decide the articles which i could put in my double page spread and put all these ideas together, in one place, ready to interview my target audience on what they like best.nxnxn

Contents and Double page spread potential pictures

In this task i was asked to take pictures for both my double page spread and contents page. I then put all the pictures that i had taken into a web 2.0 tool to make a collage which i can now as my audience for feedback on to see what ones they think i should use to appeal to them as much as i can. This task has helped me because i now have pictures for my double page spread and contents page but they are also all placed together and so are now ready to be shown to my target audience to see what ones they like the best which will ensure i am appealing to them to the best of my ability.

Front cover images

Double page spread images 

Audience feedback for potential pictures for magazine parts

Potential photos for front cover

In this task I was asked to take pictures that could potentially be used on the front cover of my magazine. I took many pictures using a professional camera, to ensure my pictures were of a high quality and then uploaded them onto my computer and put them in to a web 2.0 tool that generated a collage out of the pictures I had previously taken. I now have to ask my target audience which photos they like best to go on my cover and why so i can use these on my cover to appeal to them to the best of my ability. This task has helped me because I now have the pictures I need for my front cover but they are also all in one place, ready to ask my target audience what ones they like best for the front cover.

audience feedback on ideas for cover lines

In this task, i created a video which I then edited using a programme called 'iMovie'. I had come up with many different cover lines in the previous task which i put into a mind map. I then approached people from my target audience with this mind map and asked them what ones they like best to go on my front cover and then filmed them saying this. This task has helped me a lot because i now know what cover lines my target audience like the most to now use on my front cover of my final product.
In conclusion, from this task i have found out what cover lines are liked most which include the story of so far and get your own virtual way in to the concert you missed, these two were the favourite but the other ones that were mentioned were also the pop sensations of 2016, get your own virtual way in to the concert you missed, the new hits that can't be found anywhere else, exclusive! access to the biggest stars of the year. I will therefore use these on my front cover as it is what my target audience like the most and i want my magazine to attract them and then appeal to them as much as it possibly can.

cover line ideas

In this task i came up with some different cover lines that could potentially feature on the front cover of my music magazine, i put them all into a mind map so they would be easy to see and easily looked at. This will help me be able to see which one will work better later on as they are all stored in one place and so are ready to show my target audience so they can decide what ones they like best as i need my magazine to attract and appeal to them as they are the ones my front cover will have to appeal to and cover lines are a good way to get people wanting to read your magazine. 

Audience feedback for treatment

In this task I was asked to gather audience feedback for my treatment, i made a survey on a programme called survey monkey and shared the link with people that are part of my target audience and also asked people of my target audience to manually fill in my survey. i found out what appeals to my target audience most and therefore will attract them in to my magazine in all the different aspects of the treatment. The treatment included potential mastheads, slogans, tone/themes, price and sub genres. Therefore, in the previous task I came up with this and in this task i got feebback through my survey.

Create your own user feedback survey
 In conclusion, from doing this task I now know what i should use on my front cover, the different parts I will be using are:

• Masthead-Composition
• Sub-genre-Dance-pop
• Tone/theme-Informal but relevant to age/target audience and gossip about celebrities
• Slogan- 'we don't make pop, we make it better'
• Price- £2-£3

I have come to these conclusions as this was most popular in my survey throughout my target audience and so this is how i will attract and then appeal to my target audience to the best of my ability.

Treatment

In this task I was asked to create a treatment for my music magazine, I had to come up with lots of different ideas that my magazine could potentially include and store them somewhere for my target audience to then be able to go through and choose what they like best to include in my magazine so it attracts and appeals to my target audience as much as it can.

Treatment for music magazine from Olivia Lever

In this task, I used a web 2.0 tool that i managed to find myself called 'mindomo', where I created many different mind maps of all the different features of my treatment that had to be considered, this will help me because i have now come up with all the ideas for what will be on my front cover etc and it is all in one place, ready to ask my target audience what they like best ti then include in my magazine.

Preliminary evaluation

In this task, I am evaluating what I produced in my preliminary task. The web 2.0 tool that I used to edit my blog was called filmier and charges you if your video goes past a certain timing which is why it has a watermark over. In conclusion, on the whole I produced some good quality products but I have a lot to work on for my final production which is why I got to learn how to use photoshop now.

Preliminary Task

For this task I was asked to create a magazine cover and a contents page for an education magazine. I chose to aim my magazine at sixth formers and A-level students. I named my magazine School rocks so that it was clear whom my magazine is aimed at and that it had an obvious target audience. I made sure to include various elements on the cover such as: a Masthead, Coverlines, Puff, Skyine and Price as these are all typical conventions within magazines. 

On the contents page I also made sure to include typical conventions such as a title,Page numbers, Images and a Colour scheme etc. 

Overall I found this task helpful as I was able to practice making a magazine cover and contents page.  From this I was able to practice using the various elements of a magazine along with how to produce this on photoshop, it helped me become more confident and secure in my abilities. Hopefully this task will have a lasting effect and help me when I come to create my music magazine, in both how to produce a magazine and skills and abilities that can be used on photoshop both making it look as good as it can on the shortest space of time that it can. 

Summary of textual analysis and what i have learnt

I have completed a summary on the research that I did on the tasks i have done since my last summary. This means everything that i have learnt is summarised so it is all placed somewhere together and can be looked over quickly if desired. 

https://www.canva.com/design/DACD9IdJzjQ/lUqDx65tVW7jfsC6jYqxiA/view?utm_content=DACD9IdJzjQ&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton

This task was very useful, because i went over everything that i have previously researched into and learnt about so it is now clear in my head and i got to revisit everything to remind me of everything and also relearn anything i didn't quite understand. For this task i used a web 2.0 tool that i found myself and wasn't said to me, i found it very good, easy to work with and gave a good presentation of the work i produced. However,  i could not find an embed code, so instead i have put a link to get easy access to my work and show evidence of my research. 

Target Audience

I have come to the point in my research in to music magazines and genre, where I need to decide on my target audience for my own product. This is important as I will be starting to gain an idea of what I should include in my magazine to ensure that the audience I am directing it to enjoys it. To complete and do these stages later on I need to have a clear idea of who my target audience is. Therefore I need to choose who I will focus my magazine on.

From looking in to the genre of Pop it is clear to see that a large proportion of the fan base are female, because of this I will ensure that my target audience is girls/women. The age of pop fans vary depending on the artist, however I will be focusing this down slightly and target fans aged 16-23, as I believe I can do a better job targeting girls of these ages. Another reason I have decided on these ages for the target audience is because I believe being a seventeen year old girl myself, that I understand what girls of these ages may want in a pop magazine, and by using this target audience I will make the best product (music magazine) that I can.

Annotations using uses and gratifications theory

In this task I was asked to apply my knowledge of Blumlar and Katz theory to a real life magazine.

In conclusion, i found this task to be more successful than i initially  thought, and i knew a lot more about the uses and gratifications theory than i thought when applying it to a pop music magazine. This task was useful because i got to see how the theory actually worked and it proved to me that it is true and also how i will be able to incorporate the theory into my own magazine to appeal as much to my target audience as I can.

Uses and Gratifications theory

For this task I am going to be looking in to a theory that was created by Blumler and Katz, to find out what people uses the media for and the things that they get out of the different publications and parts used in the media. This will help me as it will give me an idea of what types of things should be included in my magazine front cover to help the audience enjoy it and hopefully fulfill some of their other needs.
I will make a go animate so that the information I find out can be seen and viewed very easily in one place. This will ensure that everything I need such as the key pieces of information from the theory is accessible to me very quickly and simply. 

https://goanimate.com/videos/0kKs-djDefVc?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent

From doing this research in to the uses and gratifications theory, I have learnt a lot about what should be presented in different articles and media outlets for the target audience to ensure that they enjoy what they are reading. For example from this research I have learnt that a lot of people use the media to find their personal identity, this shows me that people can sometimes gain their own morals and values from reading about people they look up to and can identity with, this can mean that people also like to have information and like to gain a sense of social interaction without interacting but gaining and reading about some aspects of different situations and people. All of this will help me as I will now hopefully be able to include these different aspects and ideas of the theory in to my production work and it will also be a key feature to remember during the stages of designing and creating my front cover, contents page and double page spread as it will ensure the most attraction to my target audience.

2 double page spreads analysis

In this task, i was asked to analyse two double page spreads of music magazines of my chosen genre (pop).
In conclusion, i found this task useful because it was the first time i had looked into double page reads in depth and analyse them in depth. I now have a much clearer and better idea on how i will be able to produce mine an i also know how they appeal and attract a target audience which i can try to incorporate in my own wherever possible.

Two contents pages of music magazines analysed

In this task i was asked to analyse two contents pages of two separate music magazines that related to my chosen genre (which is pop).

In conclusion, from this task i have learnt apt as i hadn't gone into a lot of detail with contents pages of music magazines yet and so i learnt what codes and conventions were used in contents pages and how they both attract and appeal to the target audience. i also learnt what mine should roughly look like as i analysed contents pages that came specifically from my own music genre.

2 pop music magazine covers analysed

In this task I was asked to analyse two music magazine covers that showed relevance to my genre of music (which is pop).

In conclusion, i found out some more about this genre of music magazine specifically as i hadn't gone into this much depth with my analysis on pop music magazines specifically. This task has helped me because i know all of the codes and conventions that should be included on a pop cover and why these should be used and how they are effective and appeal, attract and draw in the target audience.

Subgenres and Angles

In this task i was asked to research into a specific sub genre of my chosen genre that i am using for my own music magazine.

In conclusion, i chose the sub genre 'bubblegum pop' to look into in this task, i chose this because i had never heard of this sub genre before so it interested me and i thought it could potentially be a sub genre that i choose to use for my own, it was part of the pop genre which is the genre i am using for my own magazine and i liked how the magazines looked and the target audiences that they appealed to. From doing this task i learnt a lot on this subgenre such as the history, some of the main artists and stars, target audiences for both the magazines and the music and this can now help me when choosing my own sub genre and will especially help me if i were to choose bubble gum pop.

Competitor research

In this task I am going to be doing some research into different pop magazines to get an idea of how the layout they tend to follow and generally look at first glance without looking to specifically into them. For this task I will be using both magazines on shop shelves and the internet to see what pop magazines are on offer. I will then put all my finding into a word cloud that isnt using the programme wordle as i have already used this programme but it is a good way of showing findings in a colourful easy way and an easy way to remember what you have learnt as by looking at the word cloud should trigger memory of what was researched. This task will help me later on because I will have an idea on the kinds of names to call my magazine and some more idea on how it should be laid out.



In conclusion, from doing this task and the research that was involved in this task I have found out alot about my chosen genre, this will then help me when I come to creating my product and start to think about possible names that I could use for my own magazine.

Mood board for pop genre

For this task I have made a mood board in the style of a video using final cut pro, to demonstrate key features of the genre of my chosen genre which is pop. The video will include pop artists and fan pictures to give an idea of the usual fans of the genre, concert arenas pop music will play and what they look like during the concert as well as magazines already existing that are focused on pop music, producers of music and also instruments most commonly associated with the pop music culture. From making this video I have learnt a lot of interesting knowledge on the genre, the artists I found ranged from many years ago all the way to this years most popular pop artists. This video has enabled me to look at how many existing pop magazines there are no matter what the readership or circulation size is. This will help me later on in my coursework as it will have provided an even clearer base of knowledge for when I start designing and creating my own music magazine, even though it hasn't been the task to give me the most information on this it has still helped slightly to give me more knowledge. The aim of this video was to find out more information and details of pop genre as well as people, instruments, venues, text style and producers linked to this genre. In this video I was also able to look in to similarities and differences of pop artists e.g. make up styles, clothing styles, hair styles, music made and also types of instruments used in the songs. From looking in to more pop magazines and articles it has become apparent to me that to interest the target audience into buying the magazine there needs to be articles that could have scandal in them, or a competition running in the magazine linked to a popular musician that will appeal to many. Overall from looking at all these different aspects of the pop genre it has started to form a clear idea of what my magazine front cover should look like, from pop artist style, to the colour schemes and texts associated with the genre.

Presentation on genre research

In this task i am going to be researching into the specific genre that i have chosen to create my music magazine. By doing this I am going to gain a great knowledge of the genre and the conventions that most commonly used within. In this task i will also look into th general meanings of some key words such as genre to understand what will be part of the pop music genre. In conclusion, from doing this task i have now gained the knowledge that i need to have to understand and know about the pop genre. From doing this research i have more understanding of what should be put onto my front cover and included to fit the pop genre (my choice of genre). This research is going to help me when designing the front cover and also will help me analysing future magazines when seeing what is most common and effective in pop magazines and on covers.

Mass Vs Niche publications

In this task i have to look into a mass magazines and compare to niche magazines. To present my research i will be using powtoon. I will use hard copies from shops but also the internet for definitions and to check that the research is correct etc. In this task i will look into target audiences, circulation, reach, look, style and contents. By looking into these different aspects i will gain more understanding on similarities and differences between niche and mass magazines. From doing this research, i have learnt how both niche and mass magazines have different target audiences and how they appeal to there separate audiences, as well as finding out what conventions both type of magazine would usually use. This research will help me later on in my work as i now have a lot more knowledge about niche and mass magazines and what one i could make mine and then how to make it realistic to that type of magazine.

Summary of what I have learnt so far

Summary of my work so far

So far, I have completed 7 tasks during my research project in to the (music) magazine industry, in this summary of what I have learnt so far, I will go back and reflect on all the research I have done so far. I will reflect on everything I have learnt so far from all my research and use it to help me later on in the course when I’m producing my own magazine cover, contents and double page spread.  These tasks have also helped me to learn how to use new computer programs which I mag have not even heard of before such as powtoon, slide share and final cut pro etc.

1.     Introduction to me and the brief- In this task I investigated the brief to find out exactly what was wanted from me and what was expected for me to achieve throughout the course. It gave me an insight on what I would be learning and how I would be learning it. It also gave me a good idea about what to start thinking about and what to look out for in places such as shops before I had even started working in class towards this project. 

2.     Magazine industry context- from doing this first blog task, I started building some knowledge on the magazine industry in general but also more deeply into the music magazine industry which I didn’t have any prior knowledge about. This helped me in many different ways because I really got to know what the course was about and gain a deeper knowledge into the industry rather than skim over the brief, which I did in the task before. 

3.     Key concepts applied to a music magazine- In this blog task I started to learn about the actual hard copy of a music magazine (rather than the industry), some of the conventions that they involve, how they appeal to there audience through concepts like genre, audience, institution and representation, I also learnt more general facts about (music) magazines such as the history and the differences between newspapers and magazines. This research task again added to my knowledge on what we are studying and topped up the knowledge that I had been gaining throughout the tasks I had completed to this point.

4.     Analyzing magazine covers and there similarities and differences- in this task I analyzed 6 different magazine covers in depth, this task therefore helped me to start gaining knowledge on how magazine appeal to there target audiences, attract there target audiences and therefore generate profits. This task helped me to begin to understand what is needed to create a successful magazine as well as show me what type of music magazines already exist. I then compared the codes and conventions used throughout all of these different magazines to know what I should try and use in my own magazine cover. This task really started to broaden my knowledge on music magazine codes and conventions and why the author/illustrator/publisher???? Uses these conventions.

5.     Music magazine names- in this task I researched into the names of music magazines that already exist in the industry, I did this by using both the internet and going to shops and seeing what music magazines were on offer to buy so I could use the names of them for my research. With all my findings I then put all the information on music magazine names into a wordle, this is a way to show my finding in a clear, organized way. I found this task to be very useful because when I come to making my own name I have a really good idea on what is already on the market and so not to use one of those but also what makes a good magazine name and what people tend to go for to make my magazine as popular as it could be.

6.     Music magazine publishers- in this task I did research into two different music magazine publishers, one being bigger than the other however they both produce music magazines that sell well/have a large circulation (bauer) but anthem had a smaller circulation. This task helped me to understand what type of people and companies are behind music magazines. This information that I have gained from this task will help me when I am creating and designing my own music magazine later on as I will have gained understanding of what is needed and what is common on a music magazine for the companies to produce and sell them.

7.     Music iconography- in this task I created a mind map of different music iconography for all different genres. For example I found in the rock genre lots of artist are very serious in photos and color schemes include darker colors. This connotes the danger sometimes associated with the music. The way I created my information was clear and precise and so will help me later on as its not hard information to understand. I enjoyed learning about all the different music genres and this research will help me later on when choosing the genre to use for my own magazine.

Im really enjoying this project so far, and im looking forward to furthering my knowledge in this area of media but also technology (from using my blog) as it is something that I have never looked into in this much depth before but is a subject that I really enjoy and look forward to learning about in both lessons and independently in my own time. 

Music iconography mind map

In this task i am going to look into artists in all the different music genres, this is to see how all the different genres vary in styler and artists look because of the genre of music they represent. This will help me to identify what type of image i will need to create and make when i'm designing my own magazine front cover, contents and double page spread and finding a genre to use for it.

In conclusion, this task will help me later on in my project and in designing the magazine cover, contents and spread because it will allow me to represent my genre as clearly and as realistically as i can  to my target audie

Similarities and Differences of Music Magazines

In this task I was asked to look into 6 different music magazine front covers and analyse there codes and conventions, then once I had done this compare both similarities and differences throughout the covers I had analysed. In this task I learned all about the codes and conventions that magazine covers have and I now know about what they should have if they are a bigger magazine name and a smaller magazine name etc. This task will help me when creating my own because I know all the codes and conventions to put in to attract my target audience, to make it look as realistic to a normal music magazine as possible and the purpose of all the different codes and conventions that are used.

Key concepts applied to music magazines

In this task i have been asked to research into key concepts applied to a music magazine, so i have made a slide share that i will upload onto my blog. These key concepts include: genre, audience, representation and institution.

Presentation on music magazines from arabellashifrin

From this task, i have learnt all about the different key concepts in music magazines, so i now have a much better idea of what and how i should include each concept in my own front cover, contents and double page spread.

Video diary on magazine industry context

In this task I was asked to research into music magazine context, and put all my findings into a magazine which i then had to edit.

I found out a lot about the music magazine industry that I didn't already know but I also learnt how to use final cut pro which I wasn't as experienced with before this task. I found out aspects that I didn't already know like the history of music magazines, what the music magazine is and who buys these magazines, the most popular music magazines, the top publishers and top genres of music magazines (but also who provides this genre in there magazine), the prices and why they have recently dipped and how music magazines attract there target audience. This will all help me when producing my own magazine front cover, contents and double page spread because I can follow all the normal conventions of a music magazine so it is as similar as it can be to a normal music magazine, it has given me a huge insight into the industry, techniques to rise sales of my magazine and whats popular to what target audience so I have a better idea on who to aim my magazine at depending on what genre i choose.

Two Contrasting Music Magazine Publishers

In this task I have looked in to different music magazine publishers and there history, hopefully this will allow me to see how magazines are published and what sort of publishers sell different music magazines. From this research in to the industry that surrounds music magazines publishers (both bigger and smaller ones), I have learnt that there are only a few main publishers. This is interesting as there are so many different genres covered by music magazines many of them for niche target audiences.This research will help me later on in my production of my music magazine as it shows me what the of things are needed to start off a magazine company and what these publishers and companies want from their magazines.The reason I did this research was to give myself a better insight into the whole industry of music magazines and from this I have learnt about three big publishers and a brief overview of their history

Wordle - Magazine Names and Terms

Music Magazine Names

The Task

I am going to look in to the existing names of music magazines, for this I will be using the internet to find names of the different music magazines where I should hopefully find out there is something in common with all of the names that are used and also see what names work in the music industry. Lastly from this research I will be able to see what names already exist so when making my music magazine I won't use an already existing name.

Conclusion

By looking in to different magazine names I can now start to identify commonly used words and names for the music magazine industry. This research it will help me later on when I am creating my own music magazine to achieve a effective name for the magazine. I have generated a wordle which puts some of the names I found together so that I can quickly see the names of music magazines at any point if I need a reminder of what I found out.

Introduction

Introduction To Me

Hi! My name is Olivia Lever.  I am 16 years old and I attend JCoSS school. I have chosen to do AS media and A level media as I enjoyed the subject at GCSE lever.  I wanted to take the opportunity to further my skills and knowledge around the subject, as well as the subject enabling me the opportunity to go into the media industry after my education.

Introduction To Brief

For my coursework of this topic which goes towards the 50% of my overall media AS level grade, I have been asked to research, plan and create the front page contents and double page spread of a new music magazine of any genre, for a clear and specific target audience. I will then evaluate my work.

Introduction To The Course
The first 20% of my grade will go into the research and planning of my work. I will do this by researching into the music magazine industry and finding out who are the biggest music players or the time as well as the most popular genre magazine, a range of prices and what celebrities are in the media spotlight for the target audience of my choice. The next 60% of my coursework is all to do with the production of the magazine front cover, contents page and double page spread. This is where I will be able to demonstrate knowledge in the production process.  I will be marked using a variety of different shot distances and how I include and exclude different conventions where appropriate.  I will also have to think about other aspects i am using in my work, such as lighting, objects and setting as well as manipulation of photographs and integrating illustration and text.  For the final 20% of my coursework I will have to evaluate my work. This will be based on my choices made throughout the production process and what went well but also what could have gone better and this is where I will display my ability to communicate.