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

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

In the preliminary task, I only constructed a front cover, so to be able to produce a contents and a feature article page too, shows that I have a lot of skill to be able to produce what I have in my head into an actual product. I have understood more about colour schemes, fonts, photography and editing. I also used different software, as for my Sixth Form magazine, I used Microsoft Word and Picmonkey.co.uk whereas I used Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop and other photo editing software.

Within the photography of TDSTOGETHER, it was not really planned, and I did not know what poses I wanted my models to do. Whereas with Beauty&Beat, I really got into it and told my model what to do with her hands and how to stand, facial expressions and also what clothes to wear. 

Due to how the photo is positioned on the page in my preliminary task, it was harder to place the cover lines without completely covering some of the models. The actual colours within this cover can be viewed as a little too much, meaning the house style of this magazine is rather messy. 

However, Beauty&Beat's cover lines are at the sides of the page and are neatly placed with a sans serif font and only overlap my model slightly. The colours of the words and the bar link to the clothing she is wearing, which means there is not too much colour within the cover. 

This has all improved the way I have laid out the conventions on my page and I have learnt to produce a more sophisticated, smarter and realistic looking magazine cover. I have improved by placing cover lines in more appropriate places, using fonts that would link to an average ABC1 profile rating, a blank background so the house style is easy to keep to and photography poses, using one person instead of a group of people has produced Beauty&Beat to look realistic, whereas TDSTOGETHER looks like a rushed poster rather than a magazine cover. 

Part 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

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

At times, I did find the technology difficult to work with. Due to the fact my model’s hair is a close shade to the background, it was hard to photo shop her onto a white background without making it look like a very fake photo, so I decided to leave this. 

With my photography, I used a Nikon 3100 and with my editing I have used websites such as picmonkey.co.uk, fotor.co.uk and Adobe InDesign to actually produce my magazine. Adobe Photoshop was a little tricky to get to grips with because of the hair situation, but I was able to produce an edit to use in my evaluation to show that I actually used this in the process. 

I used Picmonkey.co.uk to edit the photos of my model to bring out the colours and edit makeup onto her. I have a lot of experience with photography and editing, so I was happy with how these photographs turned out. I used lots of different filters and made sure they were faded slightly, to make sure that they didn't overpower the photo. 

With Adobe Photoshop, I cut around the models body using the Magic Wand Tool and the Quick Selection Tool. I did this to try and place my model on a white background for the magazine cover, however the hair became a problem so I decided to leave the background the same. I then created the masthead and was able to place this behind the cut out of my model by places different layers on top. I had no experience with Photoshop before this project, but I am now a little more confident with using the software.

I had no experience with Adobe InDesign before this project, but now I am very confident with using it again. I used this program to put together all the elements of my pages because it is a very good piece of equipment and produces very high quality content. I was able to add text, colour and lots of other conventions to make my magazine look realistic, and all this was relatively easy. 

Before both tasks, I had never had experience with Blogger, or any other blogging website. At first I found this difficult to use, but now I have a lot of confidence with this website and use it easily. I used Blogger to post my work in different steps - it also shows my time management skills.  This site has also given me the confidence to use the well-known website Tumblr, which is where you create your own blog and interact with other people around the world by reblogging photos.

Part 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience?

Colour is something that appeals to my target audience as it is pink, and pink is the colour associated with females. The fact that the artist on the front is a cute and young girl, this also attracts the attention of females, as they will like to aspire to be her or adore her.

The contents page has elements of pink on the page, as well as some orange which is a colour that does not have a gender domain, thus will link to the male readership I may receive.

The feature article has elements of pink in the text, which will attract female attention to the article and this means that more women will want to read the section about Daisy Reilly.

Part 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

At first, I decided that I would have liked my target audience to be both male and female, ages of early/mid 20’s and to have a rather high ABC1 profile percentage. This, however, has changed throughout the process of production, as I realised that some of the aspects I would like to have included were not able to happen, and a few alterations were made to the house style of the magazine. 

My target audience now, are females aged from around 15 to the late teens/early 20’s who have an average ABC1 profile percentage (around 60
%). One reason for this could be because of the colours I used. I was planning on green and orange as some of the main colours, however this did not look right within production because my model’s clothing did not match these colours. Instead, I used pink as the main colour (including black and white). The name of my magazine was inspiration from a Justin Bieber song and due to the fact that Justin has a huge female fan base, I believe a lot of boys would turn against this magazine, so this is another reason why Beauty&Beat is now targeted at females. I also realised the way that my model is standing and her facial expression, could also lead to the cover being more attracted to girls rather than boys, as Daisy Reilly looks rather sweet, whereas boys tend to look for a more sexual expression within a female’s posture. This picture of Mila Kunis would appeal more to the male population due to her posture, facial expression and also the fact she is very attractive and a little older.

When researching, I created four readership profiles that I hoped would link to the target audience of my magazine. 
http://sophiestone46.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/readership-profile-max.html
http://sophiestone46.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/readership-profile-laura.html
http://sophiestone46.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/readership-profile-alex.html
http://sophiestone46.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/readership-profile-megan.html

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

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

Research on Bauer

Bauer publishes a wide range of magazine topics, such as music (Q, Kerrang! and Mojo) gossip (like Closer, Heat and Grazia) and hobby topics (for example Model Rail, Practical Photography and ClassicBike). All except Closer are over 50% of ABC1, showing that the people who purchase these magazines are rather affluent  and earn a lot of money to be able to buy these on a regular basis.

Heat is a celebrity gossip magazine which is closely linked with my target audience, as I have tried to portray the same age range (of around 15-24) and I am aiming it at women. It was going to be aimed at both genders, however when producing my magazine, I realised that it was a more female headed product, thus I have decided to change the target audience of Beauty&Beat. Heat also have a 58.6% ABC1 profile, which is what I was targeting my reader to be.

Kerrang!’s readers are 56.1% in the age range of 15-24 year olds, which is a little below what I would like mine to be because I believe that my target audience is majorly within this section and that not many people above this age will read Beauty&Beat. The gender readership is very close, 45.3% being female and 54.7% male, whereas I am targeting mine (now) to be more female based due to the magazine name, artist who appears on the cover and the colour scheme on the cover and throughout, as it appears to be very female based. The ABC1 profile is also quite low, at 51%, whereas I would like to be a little higher with Beauty&Beat.

Q is the magazine that is linked closest to mine out of Kerrang!. Although 68.3% of readers are male and this is the opposite gender to who I am aiming my magazine at, this is the percentage of women that I would like to read Beauty&Beat, as I believe that it will be mostly women who will read it. Comparing Q to Mojo and Kerrang!, it  They also have a high percentage of readers within the 15-24 zone (35.5%) and I believe this links well to my magazine due to the fact that this is the main age range I am targeting. There is also a high ABC1 rate of 70%, which is around the same percentage as I am aiming for. Although my target audience is aimed at females rather than males, this magazine is closely linked with Beauty&Beat. 

Research on TimeInc

TimeInc publish a wide range of magazine genres, such as music (Uncut, NME) Fashion (Essence, Look) and sports (Horse&Hound, World Soccer). In September 2014, TimeInc took over the previously known IPC.  

 

Essence is a fashion magazine with a median age of 41, which is a lot higher than the age range I was aiming for within my magazine. The highest percentage (37%) is the age range of 18-34, which is a big age range. I was unable to find any more about this magazine/any of the magazines that TimeInc publish, so it is hard to find the media packs for the magazines published by this institution.

NME is a music magazine has an ABC1 profile of 47%, which is rather low (if connecting to my magazine). This suggests that the people who buy the magazine are not too well off and do not earn a major amount of money. The median age of people who read NME is 25, which is a little high compared to Beauty&Beat because I have aimed my magazine at 15 year olds and over. There is a 63% male readership, whereas I am targeting this magazine mostly at women. NME’s house style contains the colour red, which is why this magazine is aimed at men, as red is a very masculine colour, whereas I use pink a lot throughout my page, thus this is why I am targeting Beauty&Beat at females.

The music magazines that TimeInc publish are not that relevant to the same target audience I am hoping Beauty&Beat to be aimed at. This is why I believe TimeInc should publish my magazine, because then they would obtain a new target audience reading their magazines, so there would be some differentiation within their readers. Bauer’s music magazins are closely related to mine, and because there are lots of music magazine’s already produced by this institute, the readers of such magazines like Q, Kerrang! and Mojo, will probably not want to look at my my magazine because it is such a different style to what they already read. Beauty&Beat will bring a wider female readership to TimeInc's music magazines, create a high salary/profit for the company, and will also boost their sales if they invest in my magazine.

Part 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Daisy Reilly has been created to represent the social group of Indie Pop, due to her style and fashion sense. She is a sweet girl who has a slight rebel side, however we do not learn about this in the article. She provides a positive representation of teenagers, linking to the audience who will read the magazine as they will connect to Daisy and be very fond of her due to their similarities. My magazine is aimed at both boys and girls, however I feel that the female readers will dominate the males who will read Beauty&Beat due to the name, the colour scheme and also the artist who appears on the cover. Within other music magazines, such as Kerrang!, teenagers here are presented as rebels and hard-core music maniacs, connecting to their target audience. It links well to those who like rock/screamo music and these readers are mostly boys, so my magazine and Kerrang! are rather different in terms of representing different social groups. This is a photo of Bring Me The Horizon, and you can tell even from their facial expressions and their style, that they are representing a different social group to Daisy Reilly. This is a group that would feature in the Kerrang! magazines as the music the produce is aimed towards those who read this genre of magazine. 

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

­­Evaluation of my Music Magazine - Part 1

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

This is my magazine cover compared to a Blender magazine cover.

Beauty&Beat	BLENDER
Photography - Against a blank wall and wearing colourful clothes. Posing and facial expression is simple but effective. Makeup has been edited onto face, but looks real. I used a fan to make my model's hair fly.	Photography - Against a white wall and wearing black and white clothing. Posing is not as simple as my model, so Taylor stands out more. Makeup looks as though already on face, however it may have been edited on.
House Style - Three different fonts are used aswell as three colours, making sure the house style is not messy/too much.	House Style - Two fonts used to keep the cover simple, but are three different colours and There are only two fonts used within this cover, one being the font of the masthead, and the other wording is all the same font, however in a different style due to being bold.
Some words are bigger than others to show the most important cover lines. Only a few cover lines overlap cover onto the model's body. I was able to place the masthead behind the model's head.	The only wording that is on Taylor’s body is the very top line on her arm. Other wording is right at the sides, some rather small and other a lot bigger so to stand out. The colours are all linked in with the house style.
Some magazines have a bar over the model. I am happy I have included this because it shows some difference between the Blender magazine and my own.	This magazine does not include a bar.

This is my magazine cover compared to a Blender magazine cover.

(Please note that the black border like lines at the end of the page are not actually part of the contents page)

Beauty&Beat	Kerrang!
F.A - The biggest photo is the artist for my feature article to make it clear who it is going to be. I also write Daisy’s name, and made the page number the biggest too, if the large picture was not clear.	F.A - Large picture of a women on the page, however it is not clear if this woman will be in the main article of the magazine. The page number is also the same size as the others, so it is rather hard to tell.
I used four photos on my contents to, not only fill the page with images rather than writing, but to also show off my photography and to show who is going to star within the magazine.	There are four photographs on this page which can obviously show you who is going to be in the magazine, which links to the page numbers near their photos. Two of the photos are pictures of the actual articles.
Colour scheme/house style is same as cover and there are not too many colours. The pink links to Daisy’s kimono.	Wide range of colours used. Some may say this looks slightly messy and overcrowded.
Layout - Looks rather similar, large and small photos, and also the bars to separate each of the articles. I thought this would be a good idea for some more colour and separation for an easier read.	Layout - looks rather similar, large and small photos, and also the bars to separate each of the articles. Lots of bars to show lots of articles.
Page is very neat and all photos are straight, the right amount of space away from each other and have thin, black borders around them.	Two photos on the large picture that are tilted slightly, portraying that this magazine has not got such a sophisticated layout. These pictures have slight, white borders around.

This is my magazine cover compared to a Blender magazine cover.

(Please note that the black border like lines at the top and bottom of the page are not actually part of the article)

Beauty&Beat	Vibe
The photograph of Lucy has it's own page, to show that this article is about her and that it is the main article of the magazine.	Bow Wow’s photograph is on one full page, to show that the feature article is the main one within the magazine.
Photography -  Lucy is pulling a pose with her index finger at the camera. This portrays that she is #1.	Photography - Bow Wow is staring at the camera and does not take up the whole of the page.
Layout - Writing is in columns, making it easier to read. Questions of this Q&A are in a bold style. The writing is also ‘Align Text Left’, meaning that the writing does not reach the sides of the text box, making it look slightly messy. There is also use of a drop cap.	Layout - Writing is in columns; however not separate, so the article may be harder to read. There are also no different styles. The writing here is ‘Justify’, meaning the writing reaches the end of the text boxes, making it look neat. There is also use of a drop cap.
There is use of a "cute" pull quote to catch the reader’s attention to show that Daisy is a caring individual about her fans. It makes the article look a little messy.	There is a large pull quote which takes up a lot of space and is bold which catches the reader’s attention. It looks very neat within the article.
Colours - Variety of colours within the photograph; however I have cut this down in the article by just using white, black and pink.	Colours - Limited amount of colours used within this article/photo. This may be to portray the fact this article is about a male as they are stereotyped to not need a lot of colours.